


Ichigo's Unexpected Foxy Adventure

by Gallanco732



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M, Ichihime - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 02:19:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14010048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallanco732/pseuds/Gallanco732
Summary: A classic fanfiction of mine that I'm migrating over to Ao3.Intrigued by Yoruichi's ability to change into a cat, Ichigo tries to give it a go, but when Urahara makes a mistake and Inoue get involved he's in for a hilarious and embarrassing ride...hehehe. ICHIHIME... maybe implied UraharaXYoruichi





	1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure this is going to work" Ichigo asked irritably, arcing an eyebrow at an overconfident and suspiciously cheery Urahara who was smiling behind his fan.

"Oh, of course kurosaki-san! Have I led you astray before? It is a fairly simple procedure if I assist you but you must find the way to return on your own..."

Ichigo crossed his arms gave an angry grunt.

He didn't particularly trust Urahara when he was looking so happy, it never ended well. But Ichigo was too curious to let this opportunity pass him by.

Ever since he had seen Yuruichi's animal transformation...  _not that it was something he thought about all the time or anything sheesh..._ he was interested in knowing how it was possible to transform from a human to an animal. It must be an awesome sensation, especially if he could turn himself into a really cool animal like a panther or maybe even a hawk! Yeah, he could imagine how jealous Ishida would be if he could prowl the streets as an awesome predator...

"Uh, Kurosaki-san, so how about it, you seem to be drifting off."

"Oh" Ichigo snapped out of his sophomoric train of thought... something about chasing Ishida down the street as a tiger and tearing up his ridiculous capes.

"Are we ready?" Urahara eyed the young shinigami carefully over his fan. This certainly was going to be interesting.

"Yosh!" Came the confident answer.

"You can remain in your body for this... here we go! Tiger of the jungle, fire of the phoenix, from to body to the starry heavens and their essence intertwine!"

Urahara brought his cane down sharply on Ichigo's head!

"Ahh!" The dandilion head staggered, blinded by the pain in his head. He reached to grab the spot where he was hit and was preparing to hurl some choice works back at that damn sandle hat guy, when he realized his arms were too short! In fact his whole body was shrinking!

It was the oddest sensation! Not painful but entirely uncomfortable, and a huge puff of smoke was blocking all of his senses. His strawberry hair began to spread all over his body and his clothes fell around him right to the ground.

It took just a few seconds, but as the smoke cleared, out of a pile of school clothes stepped out a little red fox with a very familiar scowl on its fluffy features.

"Oh ho! A success!" cried Urahara.

As the smoke cleared Ichigo took a moment to take in his new body. Little paws, red fur, long bushy tail...  _but wait..._  he looked up to see a humungous Urahara looking over him..  _Gahh! I'm tiny! Why am I so small?!..._  he tried to hurl these questions at that damn smirking happy sandal hat guy when...  _Oh God..I can't talk!_

"So what say you Kurosaki-san?"...

Urahara was met by the strange sight of the little fox desperately making strange noises, gesturing with its paws and looking angrier and angrier.

"Oh dear, not able to talk hmm? Well it looks like the transformation was not entirely complete. My apologies Kurosaki-san! Oh dear dear, I'm afraid if the transformation was only partial then you won't be able to turn back on your own. I guess we'll just have to wait for Yuruichi to get back from..." BAM!

The very angry little fox slammed very hard into the side of Urahara's face!

_Son of a bitch! How dare he! Yuruichi, she may not be back until tomorrow! DAMN IT!_

A fierce little battle ensued between a surprised Urahara and the seriously pissed off little fox. Ichigo was preparing to deliver a fierce scratch to Urahara's face when the door of the shop flung open.

"Hello, Urahara-san! Here are the ingredients you requested from..." Inoue's sentence trailed off as she looked at the scene before her.

The two doing battle froze as Inoue's face fell from a giant smile, to a curious look of concern... to slowly a HUGE SMILE AGAIN!

"HOW CUTE!" The auburn haired beauty lunged forward, scooped up the little fox seemingly at the speed of light and hugged him close. "Oh how soft and adorable, what a lovely colored fur, it's almost exactly like Kurosaki-kun's color!" She shouted with glee now stroking the little fox's fur.

 _Oh...My...God..._ was the little bit of thought that was able to make its way through Ichigo's head.

He never expected to find himself suddenly pressed so tenderly into Inoue's bosom, nor could he have imagined that she would be stroking his body like this!

His entire face was enveloped in a furious blush mercifully hidden by his new fur.

At the mention of his hair color he blushed even more... _she thinks my hair color is lovely?_

He tried to struggle and wiggle away but that only resulted in him nestling more snuggly in her cleavage!  _Oh my god! I can't believe this, no I can't take advantage of Inoue like this, she doesn't know it's me! God! But why does this feel so nice?! No, she's petting me like she would any animal, I can't enjoy this!..._

Ichigo decided to stay still and ride it out, while furiously fighting with himself not to admit how incredibly nice it felt to have her sweet delicate hands stroking his back so lovingly _...No, I'm not thinking anything, lalalalala..._

He also tried, and failed, to keep his eyes shut.

Meanwhile Inoue was happily fussing over her new little friend... and Urahara still shocked and now a little embarrassed was sweating bullets from down on the floor.

"Uh, uh, Inoue-san..."

"Oh Urahara-san it's just adorable! Where did you get such a lovely little thing, is it a doggie? Are you going to keep him? Can I play with him? Is he new?"

Urahara couldn't stop her excited babbling... he found himself nodding without really knowing what he was agreeing to. He was trying to find a way to explain the situation but didn't get the chance as Inoue turned and ran out of the shop with poor little Ichigo still hugged tightly in her arms!

"Oh Urahara-san I'm just going to play with him for a little bit and show him my room and fix him a meal, I promise to bring him right back, thank you so much Urahara-san!"

And she was gone.

Urahara sat up solemly, pulled off his hat and sighed.

"Good luck...Kurosaki."


	2. Chapter 2

At the moment Ichigo really was  _not_  having a problem controlling any inappropriate thoughts about his big breasted friend Inoue...However, this was only because, currently, his beautiful and enthusiastic friend was still crushing little fox Ichigo into her chest as she ran from Urahara's shop, and he couldn't breathe!

It wasn't until she was a few blocks away that Inoue finally stopped and lifted her little fox/doggie/kitty (she didn't know what he was) into the air with glee!

 _...GASP!_ Poor Ichigo, desperately swallowed lung fulls of air trying to catch his breathe again. So much had happened in the last few minutes and his head was feeling woozie.

 _Was Inoue always this strong?_ The poor tired Fox thought ruefully, he didn't remember her having such a tight grip!

Orihime held him high in the air and smiled at her adorable new friend. He was soft, and furry and had a cute little brooding look about him that seemed familiar somehow. It really had been a long time since she got to play with such a cute animal... Maybe she should name him! Hmmm, but what kind of name should she give the little kitty thing? She wanted to make sure the name was good and accurate, after all a name was very important!

She held him a little higher, and concentrated her stare.

Ichigo looked down and wondered what she was doing. Her sudden serious concentration face was actually pretty cute and made him smile usually. He always respected her when she gave all her effort and concentration to something.  _Maybe this isn't going to be so bad..._

"Oh! Looks like you're a boy doggie aren't you!"

_...Huh?..._

_..._

The realization of what she said came slowly.

First his tail instinctively flew forward covering his belly. Then his brain caught up.

Gah! Gu ga guh...  _Gahhhhhhhh!_  Was his silent scream.

He was pretty sure he was about to die. Yup, he was dying alright, death by sheer embarrassment. If he were human his whole body would be beet red. He tried desperately to wriggle away but her iron grip was unrelenting.

"Silly Billy, don't run away, now I can give you the perfect manly name!" She cheered!

_God damn it, this is not how I wanted any girl, ESPECIALLY Inoue, to first see me naked! Not that she should be seeing me naked at all! My life is over, if she finds out it's me I'm done for, I'll never be able to look at her again, she'll hate me for sure, I have to escape!_

He wriggled even more ferociously!  _Please forgive me Inoue, it's for the best._

Ichigo nipped her finger, causing the shocked girl to drop her little friend!

Ichigo made a run for it! It was a mad dash! A desperate bid at freedom!

"Come back buddy!" Orihime screamed. She took off in pursuit, running as fast as her nimble legs would carry her.

Meanwhile, on a nearby roof top an unsuspecting observer caught sight of Inoue running through the alley way. Then he saw the little flash of cuddly red fur dashing away in front of her. A moment later there was a huge thud as the giant landed right in front of Ichigo.

Little fox Ichigo came to a halt. _Huh... Ch Chado?_

"Sado-kun?" Came Inoue's voice.

Chad was silent. He looked down at the little furball in front of him. The cuteness was almost unbearable. He vowed that he - Yasutora Sado - would capture that adorable fox if his life depended on it.

Ichigo at the same time began to recognize the strange glint in his friend's eye...  _OH SHIT!_

In a split second Ichigo reversed course and ran right through Orihime's legs.  _Faster, faster! Why is this happening to me!?_ He cried desperately in his head as his monstrous friend gained behind him.

It was no use, a moment later Chad had scooped Ichigo up into his giant hands and held him up much the way Orihime had done a little earlier.  _Oh no, oh please, Urahara, Yoruichi, anyone, get me out of here!_

It was no use. Suddenly Chad was bringing Ichigo closer to his face, closer and closer.  _Oh what now?_

Chad gave him a very stern, discerning look, looking over the cute little animal in his hands. Then the unimaginable happened... Chad leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss right on Ichigo's furry little head...

_...AHHHHHHHHHHGAHHHHHH!..._

"Sado-kun! What did you do?! I think it died! Look, the little fox passed out!" Cried Orihime, and sure enough poor poor Ichigo was lying limp in Chado's hand, having completely lost consciousness if not all of his sanity.

"Oh no." Said Chad in his deep voice.

"Here Sado-kun, hand him to me. I'll take him strait home with me and fix him up good as new!" She said smiling again.

"Ok, Inoue"

Orihime skipped away with Ichigo happily cradled in her arms as Chad walked away, very satisfied to have gotten a little snuggle in.

PREVIEW FOR NEXT CHAP: "I'll let you in on a secret little guy, your fur is my favorite color..."


	3. Chapter 3

As Ichigo slowly came back to consciousness... he felt warm, safe and comfortable. He felt like he never wanted to leave wherever he was ever again.  
But there was a sound that was bringing him out of his comfortable sleep... it sounded like someone yelling, no someone talking really loud over someone else.  
Damn, if it's Kon I'm going to rip his stuffing out!  
Ichigo slowly opened a bleary eye... and saw something he didn't expect. There, just a few inches away from his own face was a giant Matsumoto!  
Ahh! The Little fox recoiled in surprise.  
"Look Rangiku now you woke him up, the little guy needs his rest, I promise I'll let you play with him later, I really do, but I want to take extra special care of him right now. He might be malnourished! Urahara didn't say where he got him, he might have been living on the streets the poor little thing." Said Orihime and stroked Ichigo to get him to calm down. Foxy little Ichigo instantly relaxed at her touch.  
"Fine, fine you always did have such a big heart Orihime, you wouldn't expect anything less with bossoms like ours!" Matsumoto declared happily, "I'm going on patrol for a bit then, that slacker boyfriend of yours has gone missing apparently."  
Ichigo's ears perked up and Orihime blushed and looked down.  
"He's not my boyfriend..." she said quietly.  
"Well, with a little luck dear it won't be long until the knucklehead is!" Matsumoto yelled happily and went on her way.  
Boyfriend...? Ichigo thought. By this time he had realized he was snuggled warmly in Orihime's lap. He looked up at her to see her blushing and looking towards the window, while mindlessly stroking his back.  
Could it be that... he always knew that Inoue was a dear friend to him. He remembered the feeling he felt when he found out she had been kidnapped by the arrancars - that hollow empty feeling of dread, that overwhelming anger, that unbearable emptiness filled only by her smiling face. He snuggled deeper into her lap wanting to feel a closeness that reassured him that she was here with him and not in danger, I'm never going to let anyone take her away again... For something so terrible to happen to someone so sweet and kind... That's why I protected her, that's why I brought her home, that's why I will always protect her... but I have been pretty swept up in the rebuilding and in dealing with my Damn lying shinigami father! I haven't spent as much time with Orihime a I've wanted to... sure I check her window every night to make sure she's safe...but maybe I should make more time... she's my friend just like Ishida and Chad, but they don't make me forget myself the way she does... He frowned with an almost irritated face as though thinking of something he was reluctant to admit... could it be that...  
"I'm sorry about Rangiku," Orihime said, finally snapping Ichigo out of his thoughts. "She doesn't mean to be so loud but she sure does have a lot of energy. I'm glad your feeling better little friend and I'm sorry Sado-kun scared you, from now on it's prime pampering for you!" She gave Ichigo one of her most radiant smiles and for a moment he forgot about everything that had happened and genuinely smiled back. (though as a fox you really couldn't tell)  
Orihime then started to ramble telling the little fox all about her apartment, and her favorite foods (pickle and peanut butter sandwiches washed down with orange juice) and how her greatest dream was one day to become an awesome space robot that protected super modern space societies on mars with her laser eyes and rocket launching breasts!...  
What an imagination... Ichigo thought as a bead of sweat fell down his head.  
But then she said something that really caught his attention.  
"I'll let you in on a secret little guy, your fur is my favorite color." Orihime said with a satisfied smile.  
Ichigo was stunned. He looked up at her with his eyes wide and pointy ear standing strait up in the air. Hadn't she said earlier, correctly in fact, that his fur was the same color as, he, Kurosaki-kun's hair? That's definitely not something she would normally admit to me.  
It made him feel a little nervous to have her so close, saying such things so candidly that maybe he shouldn't be hearing.  
It also made him nervous that it was forcing him to see his friend in a way that he hadn't allowed himself to do in the past.  
"It reminds me of a very special person, who is the bravest man I know."  
Now she had his full attention.  
"He's had to deal with a lot lately and I think that sometimes he's afraid his power will... how should I put this... His power is vast and sometimes dark but his heart is golden and good and kind and there is nothing that can break that. I wish I could help him more, I wish I could be stronger, but no matter what, even if the world is crashing down around us, I'll be there by his side. Even if he doesn't know what I feel, it doesn't matter because my heart is already with this person and always will be."  
At this point it didn't matter that Ichigo could not talk, because he was completely speechless.  
Inoue...  
"I've been training very hard the last few weeks with another friend who has similar powers to mine. It's a secret for now but hopefully it will make me more useful in battle, maybe then I won't be so weak, maybe then I won't be so useless..." Orihime was looking down with a little sadness in her eyes.  
Meanwhile in Ichigo's head he was screaming for her not to put herself down. You aren't weak, you aren't useless Orihime, you have to realize that! You've saved us countless times, the only reason we're here is because of you!  
Little fox Ichigo stood up on his hind legs, put his front paws on Orihime's arm and made a whining noise.  
"I'm sorry buddy, I didn't mean to get sad. You are so cute. Let's go have fun and forget all about that. I bet you're a very hungry puppy!"  
She quickly stood up, placing Ichigo on the ground and ran over to the kitchen.  
He was more upset than he was ready to admit to be away from the warmth of her embrace, she had felt so... So nice...  
And everything she had just admitted, the bit of her heart that she had revealed so freely to him, he had no idea, or maybe he had chosen not to see just how much Orihime cared for him. He was shocked because she had also fought along side Ishida and Chad but they were not the ones she was talking about or worried most about.  
Her heart... is already with me?  
An overwhelmingly powerful urge to protect Orihime until his dying breath over took him... it felt just like when he was nearly killed by Ulquiorra's attack and he heard Orihime yelling for him in his mind. He remembered wanting to protect her, but that wasn't all. I didn't want to lose her, I didn't want her taken away from me, I didn't want her to feel pain or fear, I wanted to comfort her, I wanted... to be with her!  
Ichigo was shocked at this revelation! He had blocked most of the incident out of his mind in the chaos that followed. He had felt so guilty about attacking Ishida it had overshadowed everything else.  
And now... he was remembering with surprising clarity, that split second feeling he had had, that unbearable fear that me may never get a chance to be close to her, to be with her, if he didn't fight back...  
"Come on you cute little thing, what are you doing over there!" Orihime called, "Let's see if we can find something that you'll like."  
Ichigo shyly trotted into the kitchen and looked at Orihime pouring through her refrigerator, and for once it didn't bother him the strange and scary things that she was pulling out. She just looked so cute.  
He liked it better when she was being silly and bubbly, that was just her way. And even though he was always frowning or scowling, her presence always did make him feel better even if it didn't show on his face.  
It pained him to see Orihime get down on herself. She rarely let people see that she was upset or sad, she was always smiling, always lifting up those around her. And the way he wanted to protect her it reminded him of... mom...  
His mother had been much the same way. Only he had been too young to protect her. Well he was never going to let that happen again. And that's when Ichigo started to realize that Orihime may have already been more at the center of his universe than he was ready to admit.  
He didn't know why he wouldn't accept the things he felt or thought sometimes. Part of him was too scared to be lumped in with all the other perverts that Oogled poor Orihime. But maybe part of it too was... maybe he didn't deserve her. I am dangerous. He thought darkly.  
And also she was his friend and he respected her to the utmost, plus he didn't spend his days obsessing over girls, and he wasn't going to go out of his way to persuade any girl to fall for him... they should make their own decision. But has Orihime made that kind of decision?  
"Here you go little friend!"  
Ichigo was startled out of his thoughts. He was almost afraid to look at the little bowl in front of him was pleasantly surprised to see some microwaved hotdogs. He did feel hungry after all.  
"I was going to fix you my some tuna cream cheese cabbage but I'm fresh out." She said pouting her lip.  
Ichigo thanked his lucky stars.  
As he munched on his hotdog Orihime smiled and began scratching behind his ear. It was a heavenly feeling! Why does that feel so good?! He asked himself and he leaned his head into her hand. She smiled happily.  
I really shouldn't be taking advantage of this, she is still my trusted and dear friend, but I guess since I haven't had time to spend with her maybe this is ok for now... Yes, he concluded... I'll be sure to get away before Yuruichi gets back and no one will ever know it was me!  
The little sleek fox had a triumphant look on his furry features. Orihime giggled.  
"Then after this we can take a bath together!"  
Gah!  
"Oh no little friend, your nose is bleeding!" Orihime cried.  
I'm not going to take advantage of this, even though even fiber in my teenage boy mind wants to, gahhh!  
The little fox took off again deciding now was as good a time as ever to make his escape. It wasn't a second later, however, that living room window shatter and several figures came leaping in through the window...  
Ichigo stopped in his tracks and looked over to see the culprits.  
His emotions went from protection mode, to curiosity, to fear in a few seconds flat.  
Only one thought entered his mind... Oh shit!...


	4. Chapter 4

In through the window flew not one, not two, but three panting Shinimagi, along with Ishida and Chad - And at the front of the group was a very pissed looking Yoruichi.  
In that moment of stunned chaos, Orihime caught up to her foxy little friend and snatched him up protectively into her arms again. Ichigo was too surprised by the sudden entrance of so many people to have the good sense to continue running away.  
"Wh... What's going on?... My window..." Orihime said weakly.  
Ishida caught his breath and spoke up quickly, "We're sorry about the window Inoue-san. Well, first, Matsumoto-san spotted Yoruichi dragging Urahara down the street and decided to follow, and I saw them so I began running after to see what was going on. Before you knew it Sado-kun was running too, I didn't know we were coming here..."  
"Shut up boy!" Yoruichi cut him off.  
A very meek and nervous looking Urahara piped up from where he had been thrown on the floor, "Uh, maybe this isn't the best time or place for this."  
"This is all your fault anyway Kisuke, the both of you need to learn a lesson!"  
She spun suddenly and pointed her arm strait at the little animal in Orihime's arms!  
The following event took place in very rapid succession.  
Urahara's fan flew open and covered his eyes.  
Chad and Ishida stared dumbstruck, unsure of whether Orihime was about to be attacked. Matsumoto, with a knowing look of glee, was bouncing up and down causing her breasts to jiggle wildly.  
Poor Orihime protectively held even tighter onto her little friend.  
And poor, poor Ichigo had nowhere to run and no time to escape. He began to pray in his head. Please, whatever all-seeing being is running the show up there, please help me out! Ichigo started to think of all the things he hadn't done in his short life. Maybe I should have taken that bath with her...I would have done anything to spend a little more time with beautiful, sweet, kind Inoue because after this...  
There was a blinding light and a yell!  
"Santen Kesshun!"  
There was a flash and whatever demon magic Yoruichi was about to use crashed against the shield and fizzled out.  
Everyone gasped. Yoruichi's eyes were wide in surprise and then narrowed in annoyance.  
A wave of new found respect and affection for Orihime washed over him as he looked up at her determined face. He also noticed that her tight grip was now easing up a little bit and... was that a light blush coming up on her cheeks? He was quickly left stunned yet again by Orihime's next words.  
"Leave Kurosaki-kun alone," she whispered.  
You could hear a pin drop in the room. Everyone was a little taken a back. Urahara's eyebrows disappeared from sight. Matsumoto looked disappointed but now newly interested. And Ishida and Chad's mouths were hanging open.  
"Ichigo? Where?" Came Chad's nervous, deep voice.  
"That rat in her arms is your annoying friend Ichigo. The brat had a little mishap didn't he Kisuke," said Yoruichi giving Urahara a dangerous look, to which he gave a nervous laugh and waved his hands.  
There was a terrible gagging, and a retching sound. Everyone turned quickly to see Chad vomiting out the window.  
"I only just realized it," Orihime said softly getting everyone's attention back, "But what does it matter, why are you trying to blast him Yoruichi-san? That's not very nice."  
SIGH...Yoruichi had had enough - this mess had to be resolved as quickly as possible. Human, animal transformations were not something to play with and she wanted to make sure she taught everyone a lesson that they would never forget. One flash step later and she was back in control, standing behind Orihime's shoulder.  
"Well if it is your precious Ichigo, then you won't mind so much if I do THIS! REVERT!"  
There was another blinding flash of light! Suddenly the cuddly little weight in Orihime's arms was getting unbearably heavy. There was no time to put him down or get away. Ichigo began to grow, his strawberry hair began to recede revealing long, lean muscular limbs.  
Inoue's eyes went wide and she squealed as the weight overwhelmed her and knocked her to the ground. It wasn't a few moments later that she was staring directly into Ichigo's large amber eyes - their faces only inches apart. A very tall, handsome and very naked Ichigo was now straddling his beautiful friend who was lying flat on the floor, his arms on either side of her head holding him up just above her…  
He wanted to apologize, he wanted to explain himself, he wanted her to forgive him but right now he couldn't move and he couldn't talk. All he could do was stare back into her huge, surprised hazel eyes.  
"Ku…" Orihime stared to say, but then she looked down from his face a little and noticed that she was looking at Ichigo's bare chest. "…ro…" Her gaze fell even further - there was Ichigo's rock hard abs, "…sa…" and there was his belly button, "…ki…" and there was a golden happy trail… and there, just on top of her own pelvic region was… his, His, HIS!  
"KAAaaaaaaahhhhh!"  
Her desperate high pitched scream could be heard for miles around...  
________________________________________  
A moment later Orihime was twitching on the floor, X's for eyes, and her tongue sticking out, her face as red as her hair…  
"Inoue!" Ichigo screamed, "Wake up, I'm so sorry! Inoue!" He yelled while shaking her shoulders.  
Everyone balked at the scene.  
Urahara, who was thoroughly uncomfortable, finally spoke up, "Maybe you shouldn't be trying to revive her like that while you're still naked Kurosaki-san."  
Ishida plucked up the courage to walk over, one hand over his eyes the other extending a familiar piece of cloth to his pretend nemisis. "Here Kurosaki you can use my extra cape to wrap around you."  
"I don't want your damn freaky capes you weirdo!" Ichigo screamed suddenly standing up stark, bare assed naked and super pissed. Ichigo was beyond embarrassment at this point.  
Meanwhile Matsumoto was laughing hysterically in corner, so hard she wasn't able to breathe! She was beating on the floor and rolling around, her own breasts ready to pop out!  
"And what are you laughing at!?" Ichigo said in a dangerously low voice, suddenly releasing a significant amount of reiatsu in her direction.  
Matsumoto stopped laughing, looked up appraisingly for a moment and with a smile stood up, "Nothing to laugh at." She said with a suggestive wink and proceeded to walk out of the apartment and off into the sunset.  
Ichigo grumbled angrily. He looked around again, "Where's Chado."  
"He jumped out the window a long time ago," said Ishida.  
At least I have one friend with good sense.  
Ichigo grabbed a blanket from Orhime's closet finally covering himself and settled back down at Inoue's side. He felt so guilty about all this mess; he didn't mean to scare her like this.  
He had killed (or more likely mentally scarred for life) his lovely friend, his gorgeous, caring, innocent... Wait a minute... is her nose bleeding?... He also for the first time, noticed the silly grin plastered on her passed out features...  
Ichigo gasped and pulled the sheet up a little higher around himself, he even felt a little violated! She had enjoyed that!  
Ichigo shook his head; What the hell was he doing, maybe this was a good sign. If she's actually attracted to me, then maybe it was ok that I was attracted to her... maybe it won't be impossible to get her to forgive me…  
Yoruichi stomped her foot and stood, arms crossed over Ichigo. "If you want to learn such complicated and advanced demon art magic you come to me! Got it!?"  
A bit intimidated Ichigo just nodded his head and mumbled, "Hai."  
After a few seconds silence, Ichigo asked. "Did you just return, Yoruichi?"  
"No, I arrived shortly after you were kidnapped."  
"Then why didn't you come after me then?" He said angrily. That might have saved me from getting kissed by Chado.  
"Urahara and I had some... business to attend to..."  
Urahara blushed behind his fan which he promptly waved with the vigor of a bashful southern girl.


	5. Chapter 5

This time it was Orihime's turn to wake up from unconsciousness.  
She had been tossing and turning when suddenly she sat bolt up-right! "Don't eat the big sausage!" She screamed.  
A thin blue blanket slid off from on top of her.  
"Oh, huh?" Orihime looked around her for a few seconds before she realized that she had been sleeping on the floor inside one of the big empty rooms at Urahara's shop.  
"Why am I here?" she whispered to herself while bringing a delicate hand to her chest.  
It took her a moment but she soon began to remember - in fact she was remembering in graphic detail the last things she had seen before passing out! Blushing madly, she put her face into her hands she groaned. "Oh my god, oh my god!" she whispered over and over again.  
Why did it make the pit of her stomach plunge in such a strange way? Why did she feel this strange fiery pull, and anxiousness that she wasn't sure how to resolve except by maybe throwing herself on top of a certain red headed... "No. no, no, no, no, what's wrong with me?" she moaned!  
Did that all really happen? She thought frantically. Where did everybody go? How did I get here? What happened to Ichigo?  
Gasp, Ichigo! Oh no, he must know that I saw him... Oh how humiliating! She buried her face in her hands again and brought her knees to her chest. My one love and now I've gone and ruined it, he'll never forgive me! What if he's awkward around me forever and ever and then he would be ashamed to even borrow a pencil from me and then he'll fails all his classes because he has nothing to write with and then blames it on me forever and then…."  
It was at this point that a door slid open and Urahara walked into the room. He quickly spotted Inoue folded into a ball of woe, rocking back and forth in the corner sending off almost visible waves of dread.  
"Oh my, how angsty…" He whispered disapprovingly, and waved his fan as if to blow the worrisome aura from the room. Never-the-less he swooped forward with his infamous, suspicious smile.  
"Hello, Inoue-san!" He yelled cheerfully.  
Orihime obviously hadn't heard him come in because she shrieked and instantly took up a fighting stance, to which Urahara promptly fell on his ass in surprise!  
"Oh Urahara-san, you scared me! Are you ok?" She asked in her small voice, while awkwardly bringing her arms back down.  
Urahara rubbed his behind, mumbled something about troublesome teenagers, then turned his magic smile back on, and quickly spun around to face Orihime again.  
"Ah, Inoue-san you are finally awake." Urahara said in his silky voice while waving his little fan. "You see, you tripped and hit your head at the market while buying my supplies earlier, we were all very worried for you. I'm afraid must you have hit it pretty hard because you've been asleep this entire time and it looks like you've been having dreadful nightmares."  
"Huh…?"  
Orihime stopped and blinked for a few seconds. What is he talking about? Could that be true? Could it have all been a dream? It would make a lot of sense. But no! It felt so very, very real, there's no way it could have been a dream. Then again, what were the odds that Ichigo did actually turned into a cat, and after all people do tell me I have a wild imagination…  
Meanwhile, as Urahara was inside the room weaving his magic, Ichigo was sitting nervously outside the door listening in.  
That lie is not going to work, he thought.  
He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall and stared up at the wood ceiling.  
Inoue has always been pretty sharp. She remembered the time I saved her from her brother and she was the only other person to show resistance to Aizen's shinkai. She's definitely strong. Let's see how long we'll be able to get away with this… Although, it might not be such a bad thing if she thought it was all a dream…  
Ichigo blushed at the memory. Now fully clothed in a t-shirt and jeans, and back in his body, he was starting to feel the same dread and worry that Orihime had felt just a few minutes ago. If she ever finds out that was really me she may never want to speak to me again, it would prove that I betrayed her trust. I only want the best for her, how could I have done that, I was completely naked on top of her! Oh my god, Oh my god!…  
His whole body began turning red at the memory and his scowl deepened to inhuman proportions. He always prided himself on being anything but a pervert, he cared about Inoue so much, it would just tear him up inside if he lost her trust over something so weird and stupid. That's how Urahara managed to talk him into this little "dream" plan.  
I'll definitely make it up to her! He vowed.  
It was at that moment that the door to the room slid open and Ichigo quickly jumped to his feet. His body tensed up and froze as he saw the auburn hair beauty coming towards him.  
Inoue was walking out of the room in kind of a daze, with Urahara's surprisingly detailed explanation buzzing through her head... Could it have been a dream from my silly, crazy mind?...  
She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Ichigo standing just a foot in front of her!  
Ichigo reached out and grabbed her shoulders before she could collide with him.  
"Woah, careful there Inoue." Ichigo said, and quickly took his hands off her shoulders because they felt like they were on fire! He had a split second to think, Why the hell…? Before he noticed that she was looking right into his eyes.  
She felt like she was going to pass out again - her big wide hazel eyes looked into his intense honey ones for what seemed like an eternity (but was just a few seconds) before tearing her gaze away and looking at the floor.  
If she had paid attention to the rest of his face she might have noticed a blush creeping across the bridge of his nose but she did not.  
Ichigo was feeling strange too, and he chalked it up to guilt. None-the-less he couldn't seem to look at her either and both looked down at the floor, each thankful that the other was not able to see their face.  
Despite everything, though, Inoue was his friend and after all that he heard her say, and all that he felt for her in that apartment before the cavalry broke in, Ichigo was determined to at least spend more time with her if that's what she wanted.. Maybe he'd be able to make everything up to her that way!  
"Hey, uh Inoue," He said, still looking at the floor while trying to keep his voice steady and casual, "Now that you're awake, I've been meaning to ask you. Keigo and the others invited me to this stupid movie tonight. I'm not a big fan but if you want you should come with us."  
Inoue let out a small gasp and her eyes widened. Did she hear right? Was he asking her to go with him to a movie? No, no, it wasn't a date or anything, Keigo and Mizuiru would be there also.  
She didn't know if she could though. After all the crazy dreams she had had that felt so incredibly real and vivid, especially at the end… she might be embarrassed the whole night over that dream! She was starting to worry that maybe her silly little mind was becoming corrupted and perverted, she could barely look at Ichigo now without remembering his rock hard abs… and.. and…!  
Orihime was preparing to just run away as her train of thought took her into the gutter, but what Ichigo said next made her change her mind.  
"If you don't want to go, that's ok, but then I won't go either. I need one other friend there who I like in order to tolerate this one."  
Her whole chest filled up with happiness. One other friend who he likes!  
She blushed madly and stared down at her toes. "O… Ok, Kurosaki-kun."  
Ichigo released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He didn't know why he felt so relieved, it's not like he wouldn't see her some other time if she didn't want to go. But still he felt a little lighter that he would get to start making things up to her right away.  
"Great, we'll meet you there at 8:30." He said quickly and the two ran their opposite directions.  
As they ran away from the shop like bats out of hell, Urahara was left in the door way, where he had been standing the whole time watching the painfully awkward and sappy scene play out in front of him.  
He sighed, muttered something along the lines of "Damn, hormonal kids," and proceeded to walk back to his private residence where he knew a very impatient and gorgeous kitty was awaiting his arrival…


	6. Chapter 6

Before Ichigo knew it he was back home.  
He flew through the front door, yelled to his startled family, "No food! Going out soon! Bye!" He leapt up the steps and slammed the door to his room.  
*SIGH* Ichigo closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of his door. For one blissful moment he thought he was home free; free to be alone with his thoughts and process all that had happened on this horribly strange day - but he was wrong.  
Opening his eyes, Ichigo was now looking at another unusual sight - The blond Vizzard Shinji and obnoxious plushy Kon in the middle of a heated argument on top of HIS bed!  
"No, Orihime was my first love and she always will be!" Shinji proclaimed dramatically.  
"How dare you! She was mine!" Kon yelled back shaking his little fists.  
The yelling went back and forth a few times before Ichigo came to his senses.  
"She was neither of yours!" Ichigo yelled causing to two fighting idiots to shut up and look at him. "Now get the hell out of my room!" He growled.  
Kon and Shinji blinked a few times and then both crossed their arms and gave an annoyed 'hmph'.  
"My, my so rude." Kon chastised, "I shouldn't expect anything more. Here we are your dear friends waiting for you to return...'  
"Whatever." Ichigo grumbled as he moved to the closet to pull out some clothes...  
"I'm here with a message from Yoruichi," Said Shinji still crossing his arms. "She says if you want to live the rest of your life without a tail you better meet her for practice tomorrow morning bright and early."  
Ichigo groaned. Crap, for Yoruichi that probably means 5am! I'm going to have to go straight home after the movie...grumble grumble...  
Meanwhile, Kon began to snigger.  
"I don't think our Hime-chan would mind if he had a tail so much..." Kon said laughingly.  
A vein began to pulse in Ichigo's forehead as he tried to ignore Kon and find his favorite pants that he wanted to wear tonight.  
"...after all she does love adorable soft things. Our Ichigo probably spent a good amount of time in her heavenly valley while he was a furry little fox!"  
A second vein began to pulse on Ichigo's head, not to mention he began to sweat from the effort it was taking to keep himself from tearing Kon into little pieces.  
"Although after seeing his pathetic penis she may never come around ever again...ekch!" Kon gagged as Ichigo wrapped his long fingers around his little neck!  
"SHUT THE HELL UP! WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT ANYWAYS?!"  
"Come on Kurosaki let him go!" Shinji yelled as he pried the fuming death god off of the plushy.  
Kon managed to slip away and latch on to the lightbulb on the ceiling - but that didn't stop him ranting on! This time imitating Orihime's voice!  
"Oh Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun kiss me please! Oh no, what a weird little pecker! Stay away from me forever!"  
SNATCH! Ichigo grabbed him again and the three fell down into an all out, knock down brawl! BAM, POW, KICK, SMACK!  
After a minute of screaming and fighting, the bedroom door flew open!  
Ichigo's father had come to investigate!  
"What is this ruccus?" He cried looking in.  
The three idiots on the floor froze for a second.  
"Oh a free for all!? What a great idea son! You really are the fruit of my loins! Geronimo!" He yelled as he dived into the fray which continued to shake the house even more violently.  
________________________________________  
Orihime POV  
Meanwhile... Orihime was having a much more peaceful time getting ready for the movie.  
She literally ran into Tatsuki as she was sprinting home from Urahara's shop. Tatsuki decided to follow her nervous friend home and see what the big fuss was about.  
Once there she got the whole story about the dream (minus the naked part) and about Ichigo asking her to go to the movies with him and Sado and Mizuiro.  
"So let me see if I have this strait. You mean to say that our dense, meat-headed, numbskull Ichigo, with his own mouth, in his own voice asked you to meet him at the movies?" Tatsuki asked pretty damn surprised.  
"Yes!" Orihime said out of breath.  
"This is fantastic! We have to dress you up then!"  
"No Tatsuki... I think it's just a friend thing, it's not a date or anything like that…" Orihime said weakly but it was no use. Tatsuki was in the zone.  
Finally these two hopeless cases might have a shot of getting through to one another; this was no time to go about things in a cautious way!  
Thirty minutes later Orihime was wearing a lovely white knee length spaghetti strap sun dress, with a sunflower clip holding her hair into a ponytail.  
"Are you sure this isn't too much Tatsuki-chan?"  
"Are you kidding, you look amazing and it's not too much at all. Look it's logical, try to read Ichigo's reaction after he sees you in this dress. Only a dead man wouldn't react!"  
Hmmm. Orihime considered this. It sounded like pretty sound logical to her and Tatsuki did know Ichigo really well - since they were children.  
"Alright Tatsuki, whatever you say!" Orihime smiled one of her famous shiny smiles.  
Yeah maybe the knucklehead will finally take notice. Tatsuki thought.  
________________________________________  
At 8 o'clock Orihime waved goodbye to Tatsuki and made her way down the street. She was a few blocks away from the movie theater when she heard someone mumbling to themselves angrily up ahead.  
She tip-toed forward and peaked around a tall brown fence at the corner, then nearly fell down when she saw Ichigo pacing there!  
He was too occupied in his thoughts to notice her at first.  
He had arrived here a few minutes ago after escaping the complete fucking chaos of his house! It really had been a hell of a day. He was sporting some fresh bruises from his psycho violent father, but he somehow managed to get away wearing something half decent. A nice t-shirt, his favorite pants and a sports jacket.  
It was still early and he figured he would come wait for Orihime here. He didn't feel like seeing the guys right away, especially Keigo who was overly excited about the crappy movie.  
There was something that Kon had said just before he finally managed to escape that was really bothering him.  
"What is wrong with you, don't you see how beautiful she is, and the girl is crazy for you for reasons unknown to mankind..."  
Of course I know how beautiful she is, you'd have to be blind not to notice! Doesn't mean I want to throw myself on her. And what's so crazy about a girl liking me, it's not like I'm unlikeable… grrr And it's not like she's in love with me or anything, just maybe slightly attracted to me... I think... Who cares anyways! It's not like this is a date! It's not like I'm hoping for anything to happen... Definately not a date...  
Even though he was telling himself that it wasn't a date, Ichigo was feeling a little funny waiting here on the corner waiting for Orihime. He felt nervous and the words running through his head weren't helping. Why was he feeling this way? Obviously a lot had happened and some realizations had been made but he didn't have to feel this way.  
He remembered Yuzu talking about the feeling of getting butterflies in your stomach when you really like someone. For some reason remembering that really pissed him off!  
"I don't get fucking butterflies!" He mumbled out loud.  
The next second he heard a girl giggling.  
…  
In reality, at the point that Orihime had come around the corner all she heard him say was "fucking butterflies" and she thought it was the cutest thing on the face of the earth!  
Ichigo spun around!  
If he was feeling butterflies before, they suddenly turned into dragons when he got a look at what Orihime was wearing.  
A beautiful knee length spring dress that hugged her in all the right places… Oh my God, she gorgeous…  
"You really should be nicer to butterflies Kurosaki-kun. They are lovely and cute and make the spring so nice! They never did anything bad to you!" She said laughing and smiling, making Ichigo go a little redder in the cheeks. "Are you on your way to the movie Kurosaki-kun?" she asked in her sing-song voice.  
A nod was all he managed to muster.  
A few seconds later he realized he was staring and looked down. He figured he should at least let her know that he thought she looked good, seeing that it looked like she had put some effort into getting dressed. He looked up at her.  
"You look really nice." He said quietly.  
Orihime's heart swelled and began beating really fast. There was the reaction Tatski was talking about! But did it really mean anything? She knew the other boys would say the same but somehow, coming from Ichigo who didn't normally notice such thing, it felt like a really big deal. Not to mention he said it with his beautiful sincere amber eyes that she was having trouble looking away from at the moment. Even if he only meant it in a friendly way, it made her love him just a little bit more. She hadn't completely forgotten about the "dream" yet either and looking at him was still a little more nerve-wracking than normal.  
"Arigato," she whispered back, tearing her eyes away and looking to the side.  
With a flick of the head Ichigo indicated that they should get going. And so the two redheaded teens, each just as nervous as the other, walked side by side the remaining few blocks to the movie theater towards a waving Keigo and smiling Mizuiro, unaware of all the excitement and embarrassment the next few days would bring.  
UP NEXT: They survive the movie & will Orihime discover it wasn't a dream?


	7. Chapter 7

Ichigo’s POV  
Orihime and Ichigo walked in comfortable silence along the damp, dark streets the last few blocks to the movie theater which was brightly lit up ahead.  
After everything they had been through, it was natural for the friends to walk silently together without feeling awkward - but even so, Orihime had so many other feelings running through her mind at the moment she couldn't keep them strait!  
Peaking over she saw her tall, handsome Ichigo walking next to her with his hands in his pockets, his head looking down, and a contemplative look on his sharp features like he might also be lost in thought. Her heart swelled just looking at him and she quickly looked forward again.  
She loved walking by his side - she felt safe here. She hoped that she could always be here next to the man she loved, even if he didn't acknowledge her yet.  
But he invited me with him tonight... He definitely doesn't mind me by his side, he even said I was one of the friends he likes most... well maybe he didn't say it quite like that but that's what he meant... his dear friend...  
An overwhelming feeling of warmth filled her at the thought and she couldn't help but smile... But this particular warmth felt a little funny in her stomach and it wasn't something she had felt walking beside him before... It was more like fire.  
Sneaking another quick peak at him only stoked the flames. She hadn't forgotten the dream, not by a long shot, and it still surprised her just how much she had enjoyed it...  
Blushing now and closing her eyes as she walked, she willed herself not to think about it, especially when the hunk of abs was only a foot away from her. She frowned. What was wrong with her? She had never felt such a thing before. Well maybe she had, but never so distinct and strong and in broad day light! Well, night light, but still she had never felt this when in such close proximity to the object of her affection before.  
She couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what this was... but she knew that it was at least a new level of admiration for her secret love.  
She sighed. This is bad, if he only loves me as a friend I can't keep falling more and more in love with him like this. I have to behave, I can't let on that I had such an impure fantasy either, I just have to get through tonight...  
They were only a few yards away from the theater when Ichigo heard her sigh.  
Glancing over he noticed two things in very rapid succession. First was that Inoue, for some inexplicable reason, was walking with her eyes closed. The second was that she was a few steps away from walking right into a light pole!  
"Inoue!"  
One moment she was walking enveloped in her thoughts, the next moment she heard his shout and felt herself falling! Then, just as suddenly, her body stopped moving. Ichigo had pulled her out of the way and right into his arms!  
Opening her eyes Orihime found herself pressed into Ichigo's chest, her hands on his steely abs which she could easily feel under his shirt, and her face planted against his chest. Sheepishly she looked up and saw Ichigo's deep, fiery eyes looking at her with concern... and something else?  
"Walking with your eyes closed is not a good idea..." Ichigo said simply, looking down at the surprised Inoue in his arms.  
He may have looked calm and collected on the outside, but the aforementioned dragons in his stomach, just started a nuclear war. Inoue with her soft skin and wearing that amazing dress now had her perfect breasts crushed against his chest. And although he was trying with all his might to ignore these facts, he was finding it pretty difficult to breath normally... especially with her looking at him like that with her big beautiful eyes! Why was she just staring!?  
Mercifully, Keigo and Mizuiro - who both had their mouths hanging open as they witnessed their friends fall into each other on approach to the theater - decided to pick this time to break the trance between them by being their normal obtuse selves.  
"Orihime-chan! I didn't know you were in love with this loser!" Keigo cried!  
"Ichigo you could have let us know you were dating." Added a Mizuiro with a big smirk on his face.  
I knew this would happen. Ichigo thought irritated.  
Reluctantly letting go of Orihime, who quickly mumbled and apology and stood on her own two feet, Ichigo walked over to his friends. He had an ominous, obviously fake smile on his face. Ichigo was going to make sure they got the message that they needed to behave tonight... or else.  
"Excuse us real quick Inoue." Ichigo said, his strained smile still on his face.  
He proceeded to grab both boys by the collar and drag them behind the theater.  
BAM, CRASH! Orihime jumped! She heard some mumbled yells and whimpers before the three reappeared, Ichigo in front and two scared looking friends tailing behind.  
Ichigo was satisfied. (He had just threatened their lives if they said another word that would contribute to the awkwardness of the night. He also politely, with his fists, let them know not to ask stupid questions, or rather, not to ask any questions at all.)  
With that settled... he walked back over to Orihime.  
"Hey." He said with a sheepish grin while scratching the back of his head.  
Orihime just blinked her large, thoughtful eyes at him and smiled wide at the slightly guilty look on his face. He's so sweet! Orihime thought - Keigo and Mizuiro probably wouldn't agree...  
"Ne, Where's Sado-kun?" Orihime asked.  
"Well, he sounded sick on the phone, said something about falling out a window..."  
Eek! Ichigo stiffened and coughed... Shit... I don't know how much she remembers...  
"I'm sure he's fine." Ichigo said quickly.  
Maybe its best he didn't come... we both need time to mentally recover...  
"Let's go inside. The movie is going to start." Mizuiro said, trying to get the night back on track.  
"Oh goodie! What movie is this?" Orihime asked with joy, completely forgetting about everything that had just happened.  
"Oh you'll love it Orihime-chan!" Keigo chirped in, "It's about an ice cream man who becomes a rogue ninja and has to take down this evil organization called the Candy Factory and the special effects are supposed to be great..."  
Orihime giggled at the wonderfully silly plot as an excited Keigo blabbered on and on. Ichigo followed behind smiling at his friend's enthusiasm, or more specifically, smiling at Orihime's reaction. She was easily amazed and always enthusiastic and bubbly. He liked her best when she was this way - being her happy, bright, beautiful self... She flashed a bright smile back at him and he resolved never to cause her pain again.  
Tuning back into the conversation, Ichigo heard Orihime coming up with possible plot twists that involved little blue men that left the other two scratching their heads.  
Ichigo chuckled. I knew it was a good idea to bring her.  
The group of friends ran to buy their popcorn except Orihime who said she had brought her own snacks... Ichigo was not looking forward to finding out.  
Settling in for the movie there was a bit of a mad dash for the best seats, not to mention Keigo was jockeying for a seat next to Orihime which was starting to annoy Ichigo. After a minute of climbing over chairs and spilling some popcorn, Keigo ended up on Orihime's left, Ichigo on her right, and Mizuiro on the other side of Ichigo.  
Finally! Ichigo thought. A chance to sit and relax.  
The friends happily sat through some previews, each movie as lame as the next one as far as Ichigo was concerned, but he was just happy to be sitting and not dealing with any chaos.  
Next to him Orihime was pulling out a little baggy of snacks from her small gold purse.  
"What's that Inoue?" Ichigo asked.  
"Oh, Kurosaki-kun this is my favorite movie snack. It's healthy and sweet, see!" She said happily pushing a handful of brown and green bits under his nose. "Chocolate covered asparagus!"  
"Oh." He said simply, while making sure not to breathe through his nose.  
He politely turned down a piece she offered pointing to his bag of popcorn.  
She's a sweet girl, but that taste in food of hers really needs to be checked out...  
Orihime nervously filled her mouth with her favorite snacks and turned her eyes back to the screen. She had never been to the movies with Ichigo before, let alone sit next to him in the dark the whole time. At times like this it was best for her not to think and just focus on the movie... Yeah, I'll be safe if I just think about the movie and nothing else. I can do this!  
Finally, the movie - "Ice Cream, You Scream: Revenge" - began. Within minutes Ichigo was bored out of his mind... This is just mind numbing...  
30 minutes in, the hero of film was in a shootout with henchmen from the evil Candy Factory organization. He was holed up in his ice cream truck and started grabbing some sharp looking popsicles out of the freeze, which doubled as delicious treat and deadly weapons.  
Ichigo noticed mildly that the guy was throwing a bunch of strawberry popsicles, when suddenly, without thinking, Orihime let out an excited whisper...  
"Oh I just love strawberries!" Ichigo head snapped around so fast he nearly broke it. He was rubbed his neck and was starring daggers at Keigo who had started to snigger... But Orhime just kept going with her excited whispering. "I especially like the popsicles; I just love popping a long juicy strawberry one into my mouth!"  
GAGCK! COUGH, Cough!  
A very bright red shinigami promptly began to choke on his popcorn.  
"Oh, Kurosaki-kun, are you ok?" Orihime said in a worried whisper, slightly patting him on the back.  
"Shhhh!" Came an angry person behind them.  
"I'm fine..." Ichigo assured her and sat back in his seat. Good thing they were in a dark theater. Ichigo was uncharacteristically shaken and red as... well, you guessed it... as a strawberry.  
Fuck, fuckity fuck, why does she have to say things like that?... His whole body was on fire and it wasn't only from embarrassment... his pants were fitting a little tighter than they should be.Thank god we're sitting down, she doesn't even realize what she said, oh my god I'm a pervert, this isn't good, my damn body...  
Ichigo tried to calm himself. He looked down at the front of his pants.  
She wasn't talking about you. He deadpanned to himself.  
At least he was no longer annoyed by the movie.  
Keigo was still holding in his laughter while Mizuiro was mentally cataloging every single detail of what happened tonight. After all, this was the freshest, most juicy gossip to come along in a long time!  
Noticing that Keigo was still chucking, Ichigo raised his arm behind Inoue's head and flicked him hard in the ear. His teary eyed friend stopped giggling immediately and held the sore side of his head.  
Ichigo felt triumphant for a second before he realized that he was in a whole other predicament entirely. Now he had his arm around the back of Orihime's seat, pretty much around her shoulders...  
Orihime had noticed the second he had moved his arm there and took a sharp intake of breath.  
Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, focus on the movie, focus on the movie...  
Meanwhile, inside Ichigo's head... Crap, crap, crap! He repeated while sweating a bit, his arm still around the seat. Crap, I wasn't trying to pull a move, what if she thinks I was pulling a move? But then if I yank it away I might insult her and then if I need to hit Keigo again I don't want to throw my arm over again... If I just leave it there maybe it will seem natural and she'll forget it's even there, I'm not touching her, and it's comfortable... soooo...  
He resolved to just leave his arm there for the remainder of the movie in case he had to hit Keigo again and because it was comfortable and he didn't want to look like he was doing or not doing anything because of what anyone might think...  
But really, in a deep part of his mind that Ichigo was working very hard not to acknowledge, he knew he was keeping his arm there because it just felt really nice to have it there.  
After ten minutes had passed with Ichigo's arm still behind her Orihime finally relaxed in her seat and got back into the movie, allowing her head to lean back a little.  
As she leaned back Ichigo could suddenly feel her soft, silky hair against his arm... A warm, protective feeling filled him up and though his face never changed on the outside, he was certainly smiling on the inside. After a while this became like the most comfortable thing in the world, and Orihime couldn't wipe the little smile off of her face.  
________________________________________  
An hour later the movie was over and the satisfied friends made their way out of the theater. Orihime was beaming but really tired. Ichigo was exhausted and more than ready to go home and go strait to sleep.  
With thoughts of warm beds in their heads the four friends pushed open the theater doors and walked out into the street - only to come face to face with the last shinigami in the world that Ichigo wanted to see right now.  
First Keigo stopped, and the other three bumped into him.  
"Oi Keigo, watch it!" Ichigo said. After not getting a reaction, he following his friends blank stare forward and saw her.  
"Yoruichi?!"  
Standing in front of the friends, her arms crossed and a sharp look on her face Yoruichi squared herself in front of Ichigo.  
"You should be sleeping. We have work to do tomorrow."  
"That's where we're going!" Ichigo said angrily.  
"What are you working on?" Orihime suddenly asked innocently.  
Ichigo's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He started waving his arms wildly behind Orihime's back, making a slicing motion across his neck, pleading with Yoruichi to cut it out and shut her trap!  
"Well, aren't you behind in the times? You should know better than anybody that..."  
"Aahhh!" Ichigo yelled making everyone jump. "Oh My God a hollow! My alarm is going off! Weee Ooohh, Weee Ooohh, you hear that? Gotta run Yoruichi, see you tomorrow! Let's go Inoue!"  
He snatched his very confused friend by the wrist and dragged her down the street at a full sprint, leaving the others in his dust.  
Yoruichi crossed her arms with a 'hmph' as the pair ran away.  
"Oh, he's not going to get away with this for long." She said. A glint of mischief twinkled in her eye.  
________________________________________  
...Back at Orhime's house...  
Ichigo had dragged poor Orhime quite a few blocks before he thought it was safe enough to stop. By then they were just a block from her apartment.  
Panting Orihime looked up at him, "Kurosaki-kun, is there really a hollow? I don't feel anything."  
Ichigo felt a little guilty for dragging her away like that but he couldn't let Yoruichi just blow the whole careful cover-up apart.  
"No, it must have vanished again. Oh well, I'm sorry about that Inoue." He said scratching the back of his head again.  
Orihime loved when he did that, he looked so good with his arm over his head like that... She looked down again. She really had to stop oogling her friend.  
"C'mon, we're almost at your house." He said softly.  
"Mmm." She affirmed and followed beside him again.  
Ichigo is walking me to my door! This can't possibly be happening? I'm sure this is not a date but this just feels so nice. I wonder if he knows what he's doing to me?  
A moment later they were at her steps.  
That's when Ichigo realized he had to leave her here, and for some reason he didn't really feel like going. He watched her walk up a few steps when she turned around and looked at him with her bright hazel eyes.  
"Thank you for inviting me to the movie Kurosaki-kun."  
"Thank you for coming Inoue."  
Genuine smiles came from both parties.  
The looks said it all. Orihime managed to tear her eyes away his and run up to her apartment.  
Ichigo chuckled, put his hands in his pockets, and began his leisurely walk home.  
Today may have been the most insanely embarrassing and chaotic day of his life, but he couldn't help feeling happier than he had felt in a very long time.  
Once inside, Orihime quickly closed the door and threw herself onto her little futon and hugged her pillows.  
A lighter feeling than she had ever felt around Ichigo enveloped her in a warm hug of emotions. Her heart was soaring! Something about him seemed different tonight. He seemed more friendly, more attentive, more like he wanted to be around her.  
Orihime didn't dare hope to think that all her dreams were coming true, but this little bit sure was enough for her. And maybe, just maybe, he was starting to feel something in return. She wanted to enjoy this feeling.  
What a wonderfully weird day! The gods sure are quirky! She thought happily.  
Orihime was hugging a pillow and sighing with contentment when something interrupted her lovey dovey thoughts...  
Well, two huge somethings! She soon found herself smothered under the weight of Rangiku's huge breasts!  
"Welcome home Orihime-chan!" Rangiku yelled.  
Orihime let out a small scream that was smothered in her bosom.  
"Rangiku! What are you doing here so late? You scared me!" She cried once the breasts were off her face. "Are you going to be staying with me again?"  
"No, I'm here on orders from Yoruichi."  
Orihime blinked in confusion.  
"She says she's going to need your help with some training tomorrow..."  
  



	8. Chapter 8

The next morning by some miracle Ichigo was able to wake up on time, slip out of the house before his crazy family woke up and make it to Urahara's shop without any major incident. Maybe his luck was starting to change for the better?  
Though, now standing and yawning is vast cavernous training room under the shop, he had to admit it had been a truly restless night. He was so pumped full of a nervous energy, and emotions and different... thoughts... (Not about anyone in particular... ok that's a total lie.) He had found it difficult to get any real rest at all.  
Yoruichi was now stomping her foot getting his attention back.  
"Listen up knuckle head." She said crossing her arms and taking a wide, dominant stance. It was the 'I mean serious business punk' stance.  
Ichigo just scratched the side of his face and gave Yoruichi his best bored/annoyed expression which he could tell irritated her to no end. Score.  
"Animal transformations are nothing to play with and are an extremely serious and disciplined form of reiatsu control."  
No shit. He though ruefully, remembering what Yoroichi had done before to drive that point home before - ending up with him naked on top of his beautiful friend.  
"In animal form you able to more completely hide your reiatsu because it takes on a slightly different texture; Thus animal transformations become an incredibly useful tool for infiltration and espionage missions. This is how I was able to pass undetected during our first little trip to soul society.  
"We take the form of the creature to which we most relate. Being beautiful, lithe and cunning I naturally relate to a feline. You, being a sly punk and an obnoxious devil are apparently a fox... though I would have pictured more of a blunt, brutish bore or something..."  
"What was that?" Ichigo yelled. He growled a little at the little smile forming on Yoruichi's lips. She sure knew how to push his buttons. At least she could tell that he was paying attention.  
"Shut up!" She yelled back. "You have emotional problems. You must learn to control your volcanic attitude to get to the heart of what you need to do! I've said it before, the soul and the heart are connected! As long as your heart is turbulent you will never get this!"  
"Why are you yelling?"  
"I'm trying to get through that thick head of yours!"  
Grrrr. He growled again as his patience began to wane.  
"It is about need!"  
As Yoruichi continued her very loud explanation... upstairs Orihime had arrived in front of the candy shop door.  
"Yoruichi-san? Urahara-san?" She called in her little voice. Pushing open the door and looking inside everything appeared to be empty.  
How strange they asked me to be here at this time but Matsuoto wouldn't tell me why... I wonder where everybody is.  
Walking a little further into the dark dusty shop an idea popped into her head.  
Maybe the training has already started! Yeah! They're probably down in the training room!  
Smiling at her own (amazing) deductive powers Orihime made her way over to the trap door, threw it open and made her way down the incredibly long ladder. Once at the bottom she still didn't see anyone. Orihime was about to yell out when she heard muffled voices some distance away behind some particularly tall, mountain like rocks.  
She trotted over making sure to be as quiet as possible - she didn't want to interrupt if some kind of lesson had already started.  
As she got closer she could clearly hear Yoroichi's voice. But for some reason she decided to stay and listen for a moment - just to get an idea of what was going on… Yoruichi didn't sound happy and Orihime didn't feel like getting scolded right away. Yoroichi-san can be pretty scary.  
Ichigo was too distracted and annoyed at the moment to realize just how close Orihime's reiatsu was.  
"So my ugly little shinigami," Yoroichi went on, "we are going to put you through a rigorous test."  
"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."  
"One in which you are going to have to realize the need to transform back, not the want!"  
"Uhhuh, you said that already."  
"One where you have to discover the path between your heart and your soul!"  
"Can we get on with this already!"  
Yoruichi smiled a curled cruel smile that only a demon would wear. Her eyes shifted to the right where she knew Orihime was hiding, watching and listening.  
Now was the time, and oh boy was she going to enjoy this!


	9. Chapter 9

"So my ugly little shinigami," Yoruichi went on, "we are going to put you through a rigorous test."  
"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure."  
"One in which you are going to have to realize the need to transform back, not the want!"  
"Uhhuh, you said that already."  
"One in which you must discover the path between your heart and your soul!"  
"Can we get on with this already!"  
Yoruichi smiled a curled cruel smile that only a demon would wear. Her eyes shifted to the right where she knew Orihime was hiding, watching and listening.  
Now was the time, and oh boy was she going to enjoy this...  
Orihime was inching around the corner of the rocks trying to get a better look at what was going on without making too much noise.  
It sounded like Ichigo was about to do something really amazing! She wouldn't expect anything less from her incredible Kurosaki-kun! After all, he was the one who had found a way to bring down Aizen, saving Karakura town and most likely the world. She was so lucky and proud to have an incredible friend like him...  
Orihime's train of thought fell into a little fantasy of Ichigo dressed as a prince fighting off hollows while winking at her... when Yoruichi's loud voice snapped her back to reality.  
"I will not accept failure from you no matter what challenge it is!" Yoruichi barked  
As Ichigo's frustration reached a peak, it was his feline sensei's next words - spoken so much more softly than before - that stopped him cold as his eyes flew wide with fear...  
"...Isn't that right Orihime?"  
Orihime squeaked in surprise and stumbled out from her hiding place.  
Ichigo didn't dare turn around. He reached out quickly with his senses and sure enough Orihime's reiatsu had crept up right behind him... No!...Was all he had time to think.  
Ichigo spun around in time to make eye contact with Orihime. He vaguely heard a shout behind him, just as he was struck with a flash of white light from Yoruichi's demon magic. He saw Orihime's wide, surprised grey orbs staring right into his. He wanted to tell her to run, he wanted to tell Yoruichi to stop, he didn't want her to know he had betrayed her trust (especially after the wonderful time they had had last night), but he also knew there was nothing he could do.  
Still looking into Orihime's eyes Ichigo felt himself shrinking - getting smaller and smaller, his bright red hair spreading across his body as he disappeared under a pile of clothes.  
...  
"He said he was ready." Yoruichi laughed to herself in a low sardonic whisper.  
Orihime was still processing what she had just seen. This couldn't be real, was she dreaming again? She pinched herself and looked around again. No, she was definitely awake. She heard Yoruichi laughing in the background as a small red fox, the same color as Kurosaki-kun's beautiful hair, shyly climbed it way out of the pile of clothes and sat with its head hung low in shame.  
"You are not dreaming girl."  
All Orihime could do was nod her head.  
"Our Ichigo has been a very bad boy lately... and I need your help to set him strait."  
Orihime looked up, confusion in her eyes.  
Yoruichi proceeded to explained all about his training towards animal transformations and why it was important he learn to accomplish them on his own. His first attempt was a half-assed disaster instigated by Kisuke - when Orihime had come along and really messed things up...  
"That's why it is also your responsibility now to help this idiot. He and Kisuke also apparently launched a misguided and stupid attempt to make you believe it was all a dream... and for that he must also pay the price. So together you are going to rectify this situation and help him complete his training."  
Orihime had turned red and her hand flew over her mouth, her eyes starring down at the dirt... It was real, it was all real! Omg, omg, omg...  
A moment later Yoruichi clapped her hands loudly. She knew she was loosing Orihime to her silly inner turmoil.  
"This is no time for silliness Orihime!" She barked, though secretly enjoying the fallout of this little revelation. Serves the two of them right for giving off such unbearable waves of damn sexual tension! It was really making Kisuke difficult to deal with as it seemed to be rubbing off and making him extra frisky. It was just annoying!  
The flustered girl snapped to attention. She could tell Yoruichi was really annoyed and angry - she wondered whether she'd get out of there in one piece.  
Down on the ground Ichigo was swimming in misery.  
This is not happening, this is not happening! Was all he had thought the entire time. His head had been bowed, giving off waves of shame and embarrassment, while Yoruichi revealed everything. He had never felt more ashamed of himself. He just hoped Orihime would understand things had happened so fast and that he was only trying to protect her and their friendship...  
"So girl, here is your mission." Both teens perked up and looked anxiously at Yoruichi.  
"You are to take this idiot home with you and keep him with you until he figures out how to transform on his own, back into a human."  
Gagging noises came from the little fox on the ground - WHAT?!  
"He cannot speak just like before because I felt it would be fitting punishment. However, unlike before he does have to ability to revert back on his own.  
You must help this moron make the connection between his heart and soul. Only then can he discover the need to return. And knowing what a thick headed mongrel he is it's sure to take quite a while for him to figure it out! Hahaha!" Yoruichi laughed manically in a truly terrifying fashion. You could almost see flashes of lightening coming out behind her.  
Ichigo felt sick as he gazed upon the horror that was Yoruichi's evil side.  
Orihime was feeling faint... This was all happening very fast. So everything had been real and now she was going to have to live with doggie Ichigo for as long as it took him to become human again?! How was she supposed to help him with that? Why was this happening?  
"Oh and don't worry about your shinigami duties. Matsumoto has graciously volunteered to cover your shifts until you accomplish your goal. She was most excited about the plan" Another crazy smile left the teens in a cold sweat.  
It's a conspiracy! Ichigo thought wildly!  
"And seeing as its summer vacation, your school won't be missing you will they?  
As for the rules young Inoue..." Orihime gulped. "You are to treat him as you would any other animal. No taking him to other shinigami for help. You are to feed him, bathe him, and play with him just as a real pet until he figures out how to get back. Oh and until he does I think a nice pet name is in order, how about just Ichi, and I'll know if you're not calling him by the designated name." Yoruichi's eye suddenly narrowed as she saw Orihime balking at what she had just said. Some extra motivation was definitely in order.  
"HOLD OUT YOUR HAND!" Yoruichi barked making Orihime jump ten feet in the air. She quickly complied.  
She placed a plain black bracelet around the stunned redhead's wrist.  
"Now, Try saying Kurosaki-kun."  
"Kurosaki-kun -Ack!" - she had been shocked! The thing was like a shock collar!  
"Now try calling him Ichi."  
Orihime was almost as red as when she had found Ichigo naked on top of her. This was mortifying, what an intimate pet name. She didn't think she could bring herself to call him Ichigo let alone something like Ichi. But Yoruichi was tapping her foot impatiently and he knew she had no choice.  
The little fox looked up at his friend and Orihime looked down at the miniature furry Ichigo for a second, then down at her feet.  
"Ichi." She whispered in her smallest voice.  
Ichigo gulped. Ichi was something only his sisters ever called him, and even that annoyed him a little because of the high pitched way they yelled for him 'Ichi-nii!"...  
But coming from Orihime, and without the -nii at the end... It sounded so damn sweet from her lips, it was almost unbearable! He blushed under his fur.  
He didn't think he was going to be able to survive god knows how long in Orihime's apartment.  
What horrible torture is this!? Ichigo thought desperately, sweating bullets on the ground. This isn't happening!  
"Oh, but it is happening little Ichigo." The foxy Shinigami looked shocked and Yoruichi smiled again. "I am the only one was can understand what you are thinking. I'll be by to check on your progress in one week. Until then, Inoue please pick up our little friend and take him home."  
Ichigo looked panicked and Orihime just stared at the little ball of red fur sitting a few feet away from her.  
Then, something funny started to happen in her mind.  
She knew looking at the little creature that it was indeed her Kurosaki-kun, her savior and her secret love; the one who had saved her and the world, her dearest friend. Tall, handsome and powerful... and yet looking at him in his current state... she couldn't help but think how friggin' adorable he was!  
Some weird kind of excitement came bubbling out from - well she had no idea where it was coming from - but it almost felt like the first time she had laid eyes and the furry, cute little doggie thing!  
She should be scared, she should be embarrassed, she should be worried about what her Kurosaki-kun would think about the arrangement, heck, she should probably be upset with Kurosaki-kun for lying to her - but whether by some strange quirky magic or her own silly mind she just had the overpowering urge to scoop him up and pet him for hours, perhaps Sado-kun was rubbing off on her?... Looking at the shinigami turned furball, that bubbly silly feeling filled her up inside like a balloon.  
She didn't understand how she was supposed to possibly help Ichigo make a connection between his heart and soul or whatever Yoruichi had said - but maybe she could at least make sure he had fun in the mean time!  
Maybe I could dress him up in little tiny shinigami robes! Would that help him turn back more quickly? No, I'll do what Yoruichi-san says and try not to overdo it... but I wonder if as a kitty Kurosaki-kun feels more playful or whether he can still scrunch up his eyebrows in his funny way...  
And then Orihime giggled, and Ichigo knew he was screwed.


	10. Chapter 10

Yoruichi let out a loud sigh and leaned against the nearest rock.  
That little dumbass, carrot-top shinigami and his clueless girlfriend were finally gone. She put her arms up behind her head and looked off at the giant ladder they had just finished climbing out of.  
If only that little mongrel knew what a huge favor she was doing for him.  
"He really should be thanking me." She mumbled to herself.  
After all being able to succeed in this kind of transformation is exceptionally rare and required a tremendous motivation to help bridge the gap between the soul and the heart.  
Not everyone possesses the gift of a bond that transcends time and space. Urahara and Yoruichi, however, shared an unspoken bond built on hundreds of years of respect and strength, passion and love that made them almost like a single entity. He was her bridge. She had a sneaking suspicion as to who Ichigo's bridge might be, seeing as he had already defied to laws of nature to protect that girl.  
Yoruichi sighed again, dropped her arms arm pushed away from the rock – making her slow, purposeful way back up to the little shop.  
"I am such a kind and thoughtful person, I'll have to pound that brat for not appreciating me when this all over."  
DAY 1:  
He was going to KILL Yoruichi when this was all over.  
This was terrible!  
He couldn't scowl, he couldn't be sarcastic, he couldn't act aloof - he was completely defenseless! And on top of that, he was at the mercy of the girl he cared about most. Now, maybe that would have made some boys happy but it terrified him to no end; because it just so happened that this girl had one of the quirkiest imaginations on the face of the earth, and a taste in food that could only be described as alien.  
Plus, at the moment he was riding in a basket - like a friggin' bunny! – swinging from Orihime's arm, and he was finding it hard to imagine feeling more emasculated than he felt right now.  
He just had to concentrate on what Yoruichi had said about his soul and his heart .  
Well his heart was telling him this sucked...right? Maybe he should meditate, concentrate really hard. Maybe this way a test at clearing my head? Yeah maybe that's it!  
He just had to find a way to focus through all of this and concentrate on turning back.  
As Ichigo was formulating theories down in the basket, Orihime was hard at work thinking of plots of her own. She didn't want to let Kurosaki-kun down, and she didn't want Yoruichi to think she had failed.  
There was so much pressure on her… plus she was going to do everything in her power to distract herself from the fact that her beloved Ichigo was essentially going to be living with her for god knows how long. She blushed a little and picked up her pace towards her little apartment… she didn't want Kurosaki to see her as just a silly little girl, she was definitely going to prove herself to him!  
She would have to put off her other secret training with Hachi for the time being. Maybe she could have someone send the message for her? She was definitely going to give this her 100% effort...  
She finally walked up the steps of her building and into the apartment.  
Ichigo rocked back and forth in the little basket in deep thought, when suddenly everything stopped moving and Orihime opened up the lid. They were in her living room again. He tentatively stepped out and sat on the living room rug in front of him and looked up at his (currently) very tall friend.  
He heard a sigh escape Orihime's lips, and the next second she was sitting on her knees in front of him, her head hanging low which caused her silky dark red hair to fall gently over her face. Ichigo put a paw up in concern.  
"Kurosaki-kun… OUCH!" Orihime jumped! Ichigo jumped too! She forgot about the little shock bracelet. She stared at the thing on her wrist.  
Ichigo saw an expression cross her face that he had never quite seen before, it was over so quickly too. She looked annoyed or angry or… it was almost as though she were giving it a "fuck you" kind of face. He had never seen that face before, and he had to admit that he liked it, he wondered what she was thinking, what other kinds of faces and emotions she kept tucked away behind her cheerful façade. But this look in particular, Ichigo kind of thought it was a bit… sexy.  
Sexy?  
A second later she bravely went on regardless of the pain. "I'm going to do my best to help Kurosaki-kun (Ouch!) and it's for Kurosaki-kun's (Oh!) sake that we will get you back. I know Kurosaki-kun (Ah!) must be really upset and worried but we will figure this out for sure Kurosaki-kun! (Ow!)"  
Ichigo sweat dropped a few times – he really wished he could tell her it was alright to call him something other than Kurosaki-kun. Plus he had no idea she could be so stubborn and masochistic!  
"I will definitely help you! I know Yoruichi is trying to have her fun with us, but we're going to prove her wrong!"  
That got his spirits up! Down with Yoruichi!  
The two shared a fiery gaze of determination and resolve that definitely was not a silly look at all.  
Inoue. I'm sorry I got you into this but we'll definitely get out together! Ichigo vowed.  
He nodded his furry head and Orihime nodded hers with passion.  
"YOSH!" She yelled then – Zoooom! - Orihime ran out of the room leaving Ichigo in the dust. Before he had time to wonder where the hell she had run off to, Orihime returned with a white head band on her auburn head that read 'VICTORY!' She posed, her fingers in a triumphant V. She looked eerily like Dan Kanonji with that pose… [More sweat drops from Ichigo]  
Huuuh?  
Then she was running to the closet.  
The next second a horrible screeching, scraping sound forced Ichigo to cover his foxy little ears with his paws. When it stopped he tentatively opened his eyes only to see Inoue standing triumphantly in front of a portable chalk board.  
"Ok, here's the plan!"  
Soon she was writing and rambling about all sorts of ideas! There was training sessions, running, fighting, adventures, meditation… hypnosis, swimming, competitive eating?  
As Ichigo listen to one progressively more insane idea after the other he knew this sure was going to be one heck of an adventure.  
________________________________________  
It was finally night time. After the strategy session they had run 3 miles, then practiced some reiatsu tracking - which consisted of chasing Chad around town as he desperately avoiding Orihime and her foxy companion. It was a surprisingly evil yet kick-ass idea, especially coming from Inoue and Ichigo was pleasantly surprised – it had been a lot of fun. And now they were home and thoroughly exhausted.  
It's so friggin' easy to get worn out in this tiny body! Ichigo thought wearily.  
Orihime walked into the living room with a bowl of water for Ichigo. She put it down on the ground and then took a seat on the floor next to him. After a few minutes silence (in which a desperately thirsty Ichigo was lapping up all the water) Orihime spoke up.  
"Now that you're tired maybe you'll have more time to think."  
Ichigo looked up with a questioning look.  
"Well, it's just that now is the best time to meditate isn't it? I always find I'm able to think the best when I have no energy left in my body. I just thought that if I got you totally worn out then it would be easier for you to meditate and then maybe that would help you turn back..." she trailed off looking bashful for some reason.  
Little red fox Ichigo perked up. He was genuinely surprised (again) at how much thought and care she had put into this day. And she had run with him every step of the way, she must be just as exhausted. They had gotten so much done in just one day.  
A wave of gratitude washed over him as Ichigo remembered that Inoue had always been there running next to him, since pretty much the beginning of all this shinigami business.  
Ichigo nodded his fuzzy, adorable head. She's right!  
Their eyes met in agreement and he sat pensively, allowing his eyes to fall closed. Orihime was using every ounce of self control that she had to stop herself from scooping him up and petting him to DEATH with how adorable he looked right now with the stern little look on his puppy-like face.  
He felt the calm coming on; the emptiness that could only be reached at the point of total exhaustion… This was going to be good.  
"I'm glad… I'll leave you to it."  
Ichigo sat, ready for deep serenity and serious meditation to come on, he felt totally calm, totally drained, but completely comfortable and at peace.  
That is until…  
Orhime whispered. "I'll just be in the shower."  
As she padded off to the bathroom, little Ichigo screwed up his face in concentration…  
DAMN IT!  
So much for my clear mind.  
________________________________________  
After her shower Orihime left the bathroom in her white and pink polka-dot pajamas, rubbing a towel through her long wet hair. Peaking into the living room she saw that little Ichigo was still sitting in the same spot seemingly deep in thought.  
She sighed and smiled. It felt so warm to have him here, even if he wasn't exactly in his normal form. This certainly had been the strangest week of her life, and that was truly saying something considering everything that they had been through!  
I guess I'll try to make him something to eat! Oh, I'm cooking a home-made meal for Kurosaki-kun! She blushed at the thought. But then again, she seemed to remember Tatsuki-chan warning her the last time she had thought about making food for everyone.  
I don't know why Tatuski-chan is so worried, everyone likes fried squid and I have so many toppings! Oh I can't wait to try it with chocolate oh yum yum! She danced and hugged herself thinking of the delicious meal she was going to prepare! Then again maybe I should make some plainer things just in case…  
A half-hour later Ichigo was distracted from his meditation by the smell of frying food.  
He was frustrated! He hadn't been able to think of a way to turn back and meditation alone didn't seem to be cutting it.  
Fuck this! He thought angrily. What the hell am I supposed to do? He put his head under his little paws in frustration.  
A few moments later he heard a loud clatter in front of him and felt a warm hand on top of his head.  
"Are you ok?"  
Looking up he was met with Orihime's wide hazel eyes full of empathy and concern.  
She looks pretty with her hair wet like that. He thought as he blushed a little under his fur as he continued to stare into her eyes.  
He nodded and she removed her hand giving him a little smile. (She just couldn't help but touch him when he was this cute and fragile looking.)  
Ichigo then noticed that she had put a bowl of hot steaming food down in front of him. Tentatively looking into his food bowl and breathed a sigh of relief at what he saw.  
Rice balls and hotdogs!  
"I called Tatsuki and asked her what I should make if I had to cook something for a boy in our class and she absolutely forbade me from making all of my favorite foods so this was all that I had left." Orihime rambled.  
Ichigo munched on the food happily giving her a nod of gratitude.  
However he quickly averted his eyes when he saw what she was eating… Who on God's green earth would put chocolate on fried squid?  
Ichigo would quickly learn that even if he was eating a normal dinner, if he didn't want to get sick and throw-up he better not look at what she was eating… He sucked it up and continued to eat everything up. It was most satisfying after a long exhausting day! Orihime spoke up when she saw that he had finished.  
"Now it's time for your bath!" She proclaimed happily.  
HuuuuuH? Ichigo was mortified but before he could move she had scooped him up like a puppy and carried him into the little bathroom. He squiggled, and wriggled in vain. Next think he knew Orihime had plopped him into a small tub of warm water.  
Gah!  
Orihime wasted no time in squirting the helpless, and incredulous little red fox with a healthy dose of soap and scrubbing away at his dirty fur. However, what Ichigo didn't notice was the blush and blank look on his friend's face. She was trying to do this as quickly as possible without it looking like it bothered her. She knew he needed a bath and she had to give it to him. On the inside though she was waging a little emotional battle!  
Jusy keep calm, treat him like a normal puppy, a normal puppy, a normal puppy…..  
Poor Ichigo couldn't fight it! He was embarrassed beyond belief but he wasn't going to try to run away. He would just have to bare it.  
Orihime looked down at Ichigo for a moment as she prepared to rinse the bubbles off but she suddenly stopped. When he felt her stop, Ichigo looked up. His black ears were droopy and wet, his rich red fur soaked and covered in pink and purple bubbles. When he saw a weird look on Orihime's face he cocked his head to the side in a quizzical way, like a dog does when it's confused.  
What's wrong with her? He thought nervously.  
Seconds passed, it looked like she was shaking…. What is going on?  
Ichigo cocked his head back in the other direction.  
The next moment she couldn't hold it in any longer…  
First she let lose a giggle which made Ichigo jump and slosh in the water.  
Then she let go rip roaring hysterical laughter!  
"WahahahaahahaHahaha! You're so CUUUUUTEE!"  
Ichigo tried squirming away in the bubbles but it was futile. The purple soap suds in his wet fur, plus the big eyed puppy expression as he moved his head back and forth created an epically devastating level of cuteness, and Orihime was helpless against it!  
She picked him up, wet and all, and started hugging the life out him! Water splashed everywhere, Ichigo squirmed in confusion and his self-preservation instincts were telling him to run, but it was no use!  
…  
After a 15 minute mini-battle – which left the entire bathroom, including Orihime, soaked - Ichigo was finally clean.  
The helpless shinigami sighed as Orihime finally relented and let him down. She threw a little blue towel over him and happily started rubbing him dry.  
Ichigo was out of breath, a little confused and a lot embarrassed. She was practically sexually harassing him here! Plus why was she so friggin strong?  
Suddenly the towl was whipped off and was now face to face with what looked like a shinning metallic silver weapon in Orihime's hands, and it was pointed right at him! What looked like a gun was actually a hair dryer and the auburn hair beauty was grinning almost maniacally as she switched it on!  
Woooooooooo!  
Ichigo whimpered but there was nothing he could do.  
Hot, hot, hot!  
In no time at all he went from red wet rat to a big fluffy cheese puff looking thing and it had Orihime rolling on the floor laughing even more!  
Ichigo tried to keep his breathing steady as a still giggling Orihime brushed his puffy fur back down.  
If her smile wasn't so damn pretty it would really be pissing him off that she was getting so much enjoyment out of his humiliation. (The wonderful sensation of the brush through his fur and her warm hand on his head were helping a little also. His little eyebrows twitched as he tried to control his thoughts.)  
Orihime really was starting to feel and act so much more at ease with her little companion.  
"Time for bed then! We have a lot of work to do tomorrow!" Orihime said happily leading little Ichigo from the bathroom.  
"Here's your bed Kurosaki-kun (Ack!)"  
Ichigo jumped a little, he had forgotten that Inoue still had that shock bracelet. But that wasn't the only thing that surprised him. She had set up a comfortable little bed of pillows and sheets right at the base of her own bed!  
Ichigo blushed a little. He was sleeping in her room!  
He would have objected if he could speak, but he also didn't want to hurt her feelings.  
As Orihime flicked off the lights, Ichigo made himself comfortable on his little make-shift bed and noted that it smelled overwhelmingly of sweet Orihime. It made him calm and a little warm on the inside.  
Orihime had jumped straight into bed and pulled the covers up over her head. She was so embarrassed by her own boldness and a little ashamed. She did sort of attack him in the bathroom, and she couldn't help but want him close to her as she slept. She just hoped that after all of this was over he would forgive her. But for now, that little bit of selfishness was kicking in. She sighed softly and began drifting to sleep. Forgive me Kurosaki-kun, but I feel so much safer and happier to have you here with me.  
Ichigo was quickly drifting off as well. It had been a long hard day. He heard Orihime's little sigh and it sent a slight shiver down his spine. He secretly relished being able to hear her little sleeping sounds – they were very sweet.  
As he closed his eyes, just before finally relenting to his exhaustion, Ichigo noted that he had learned something new about Orihime today: Not only was she was extremely strong willed, loyal, and quirky but also… she was unbearably adorable.


	11. Chapter 11

DAY 2:  
The next morning Ichigo woke up in his warm little bed at the foot of Orihime's bed. He stretched satisfyingly and breathed deeply the sweet scene of her room and her covers.  
Shaking off some morning shivers he looked up and noticed that the bed above him was empty.  
He had a momentary drop in the pit of his stomach. Where was she?  
He trotted out to the living room and was quickly relieved to find Orihime there. She had her spandex running pants on and a cute, loose fitting pink t-shirt, doing some morning stretches.  
"Are you ready for our run?" She asked with a radiant smile.  
Damn straight!  
They were out the door running through the cool, dewy morning streets of Karakura town. Peaceful, invigorating and focusing, Ichigo couldn't help but smile knowing he had a beautiful partner always running by his side…  
After their morning run and a few failed attempts at reitsu training on their own, the orange haired pair were sitting in Orihime's little kitchen tired and munching on some snacks. That's when Orihime was struck by an incredible idea! It was really a stroke of brilliance! She had jumped violently out of her chair spilling her juice in the process and yelling, "Vizards, vizards!"  
Foxy Ichigo almost jumped out of his fur at the sudden crazy outburst and started looking wildly around for any invading vizards. Orihime dropped to her knees and whispered (unnecessarily because they were alone) her plan in his furry little ear. The sudden closeness startled him, not the mention her warm breath and the clear view of her cleavage as she bent over…  
"Yoruichi-san said we weren't allowed to go to shinigamis for help, she didn't say anything about vizards!" She whispered excitedly.  
His little eyes (which were busy nervously staring down her heavenly valley) went wide with realization! They might just be able to help! He wished he could hug her! Seconds later the teens were bolting out the door and running towards the Vizard hideout.  
She figured maybe some of the training she had been doing with Hacchi could possibly help or give them a clue. Yosh! She thought with a determined look as they ran full throttle down the busy streets of Karakura town.  
10 minutes later the auburn beauty and her foxy companion arrived at the Vizards stronghold and descended into their warehouse training grounds. As they reached the bottom of the long stair case, they were met by a shout.  
"Orihime-chan!"  
The yell was followed by a gleeful Shinji running full speed towards his first love!  
Fuck if I'm letting this happen…  
BAM! AHHHH!  
Shinji's look of pure joy (one that clearly said he expected to be copping a feel within moments) was now one of PAIN! He opened his eyes to see a little fox biting the shit out of his leg!  
AHHHH!  
After a 2 minute struggle Shinji had kicked his foxy attacker off and now they stood face to face. It wasn't long though before a cocky grin made its way onto his face, "Well if it isn't that Ichigo punk. Ha ha, we all heard what happened to you."  
Who's spreading these goddamn rumors?  
The next moment Hiyori had lept from across the grounds, landing like an earthquake between the two morons. "Oh, is this the flasher pervert with a furry fetish?"  
THAT'S IT, THEY'RE GOING DOWN!  
Orihime stood there watching as an all out battle broke out. She tilted her head to the side and a few sweat drops fell. Kurosaki-kun sure does get into fights quickly doesn't he?... she thought weakly.  
Fortunately, Hacchi picked this moment to come waddling up to his little protégé'  
"Ah, Hacchi-san" She called happily, greeting him with a little bow.  
"Inoue-san, this is a happy surprise. I haven't seen you lately. How may I help you?"  
She smiled, and explained the entire situation.  
((20 minute later))  
Nursing some wounds Ichigo made his way over to where she was training with Hacchi.  
What he saw really surprised him. It was Inoue working with her shun shun rikka, only they didn't look normal at all. What was normally a flat triangular shield looked like a pyramid with a flower enclosed in the center.  
Inoue and Hacchi were sitting together as she worked to keep this new shape and protect the flower inside from little projectile that Hacchi was sending its way. Ichigo could see the beads of sweat forming on her brow and an intense look of concentration that he had never seen before (yet another face he was surprised to learn she had… he wondered how many more faces he could discover…)  
Has she been working this hard all this time? That kind of technique could be really useful in battle!  
Ichigo sat patiently near-by and just watched pensively with one little paw over the other, his ears straight up. What a strong girl, training all this time by herself just so she could be more useful to her friends… and to me…  
It was close to midnight as the pair returned to the apartment exhausted and dejected.  
Despite their best efforts they hadn't come any closer to finding a way to help Ichigo return to his normal self. After speaking with Hacchi and the rest of the Vizards, and trying a few things (which mostly ended with Ichigo in a great amount of pain) they had run out of ideas.  
Orihime plopped down on the couch and Ichigo lept up to sit beside her. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and Ichigo looked up in time to see a sad expression on her beautiful face. Despite everything that had happened there was nothing that made him feel worse than seeing his normally perky and happy go lucky friend showing the kind of sad expression she worked so hard to hide from the world.  
Is there really nothing I can do for him again? She thought sadly.  
Orihime was pulled away from her depressive thoughts when she felt something soft and furry nudging her hand. She looked down to see little furry Ichigo giving her a burning and encouraging look. His ears were perked up high again and he seemed to be telling her that it was all alright. Her Kurosaki-kun was always there to help her, even when he was the one most in need. She smiled a soft genuine smile just for him and it made him melt a little bit inside. Her small genuine smiles were even more devastatingly beautiful than her normally large silly ones. His little heartbeat quickened as he nodded his encouragement to his friend.  
It was, as always, just way too cute for her to handle.  
Without thinking her hand was on his head and she began scratching behind his ear. She caught herself a moment later and was just about to apologize when he did something that surprised the both of them! He nudged his head deeper into her hand, loosing himself to the wonderful sensation of her fingers.  
She was shocked at first, but with one more furry nudge she smiled a small smile and continued her ministration...  
Ichigo relished the feeling. Heck, he could blame it later on being an animal, he could claim not to remember any of it, but for now he thought they both needed a little bit of comfort…  
He knew he would never do this with any of his other friends… not even his female friends! Tatsuki would probably stomp the life out of him, and he could never show this kind of weakness to Rukia… It just seemed to him that Inoue was the singular one of his friends that he could drop his guard with and feel comfortable, feel safe and secure knowing not only would he not be mocked or judged, but he would be comforted in return. Even if this didn't exactly happen when he was in his human form, he knew Inoue was always an open ear and a gentle spirit that he enjoyed having by his side.  
While Ichigo was lost in thought below, Orihime was fixing him with a soft gentle gaze as she continued to scratch his ears and rub his head and stroke his fur.  
It was hard to fully understand that this was Kurosaki-kun… this was definitely not something he would be doing if he was in his normal form. She blushed a little at the thought… but then giggled too. The thought of Ichigo acting like a kitty in real life was pretty hilarious. That little giggle lifted both their spirits and they sat in quiet relaxation together. It a feeling of relishing each other's company and a level of comfort Orihime hoped she could have with him…  
As they fell asleep that night, Orihime lay awake. She couldn't seem to stop the events of the day replaying over and over again in her mind. She was beyond tired and angry with herself for not being able to help her Kurosaki-kun. A silent tear fell down her cheek but she quickly swept it away. This was no time to be giving up… wait! The beginnings of a new plan were starting to form in her head and a glimmer of hope returned to her eye… it may just work!  
DAY 3:  
It was devious, it was sneaky, it was downright cheating and Ichigo loved it.  
Orihime had explained her plan that morning over breakfast. It was just one surprise after another when it came to Inoue as far as Ichigo was concerned.  
"Urahara-san isn't at his shop all day," Inoue explained in another one of her unnecessary whispers. "We could wait outside the shop until he's gone and then sneak inside and see if we can find something to help us turn you back! He has all kinds of products and scrolls, there's bound to be something. Of course we'll repay him or replace anything we use but they're playing dirty Kurosaki-kun –ouch!" As if to make her point she was shocked for the millionth time by Yoruichi's shock bracelet.  
His respect for this gorgeous girl grew daily, not to mention he was learning that Inoue could be pretty damn fun and not so straight laced as she appeared! The girl was cunning!  
Orihime was met by a very hearty, very furry series of nods from her little partner in crime.  
"Yosh!"  
It was around noon and the pair arrived to set up a stake out of sorts a few roof tops away from Urahara's shop. They weren't there very long at all, though, before Urahara, Tensai, Jinta and Ururu all came walking out.  
"It's a lovely day for the zoo don't you think everyone!" They heard him shout as the group headed out and down the street.  
Wow, what luck! This was really their chance! It was almost too easy!  
Once they were sure that Mr. Hat & Clog's group was completely out of sight, the pair made their way stealthily down from the roof top and tip toed over to the non-descript shop. Fortunately a side window had been left open…  
After quietly climbing inside the pair split up and started rummaging around.  
Orihime really did feel terribly guilty for all this and she planned on apologizing and all that was necessary, but right now her number one priority was helping Kurosaki-kun turn back. She fixed a determined little look on her face as she continued opening drawers and looking through closets.  
Serves that suspicious old nut bag right… thought Ichigo as he scampered around from room to room as fast as his little paws would take him.  
That's when he saw it. In a back room that looked like an office there was a small table in the center with all kinds of scrolls rolled out on them. Around the room were boxes labeled all kinds of things… One box said soul society, another said medicinal formulas, and there in a prominent place in front of all the other boxes with a fresh new label was one that said "Animal transformations"! HE had found it!  
The little fox went running back out of the room, zoomed over to the beautiful friend and started tugging on her shoe laces to get her to follow him. At first she thought he was playing and was getting ready to assault him again for his cuteness… but then he ran ahead to the door and started spinning in circles. Oh, he wants me to follow him!  
"Did you find something?"  
The little fox nodded vigorously and took off down the hall way. Orihime sprinted behind.  
Once at the back room the teens slowly approached the box that promised the answers to all their problems… Orihime dropped to her knees and put her hands on the lid of the box. Her and furry Ichigo shared one last meaningful look as she lifted up the lid and reached down inside…  
As she brought out the heavy, glossy booklets the teens' eyes went wide!  
What the hell is this?… They thought simultaneously…  
The first one read "Barefoot Confidential" and has an awful lot of pictures of feet on it…  
Orihime began to shuffle through the apparent magazines…  
The next one was "Sole Satisfaction"…  
Then "Toe tongue tusslers"  
It's…  
This is…  
Ichigo and Orihime's pure innocent minds were trying to process… but the extremely graphic pictures on the last magazine cover ("Fantasy Foot Frenzy: 18") were enough to help them understand exactly what this was…  
"FOOT POOORN!" She screamed!  
Orihime dropped the magazines like they we brimstone and fell to the floor clutching her virgin eyes like they were burning! While Orihime was rolling on the ground in agony, Ichigo was rooted to the spot. He was positively purple with embarrassment. There was practically smoke coming out of his little ears!  
That son of a bitch set this up!  
As if to confirm his suspicions, a hand written note fluttered down at that moment landing between the teens. Orihime (who was also purple at this point, she had just looked at porn with Kurosaki-kun!) stopped clutching her eyes long enough to read the little note. Ichigo looked down too.  
It read:  
"Shame, shame on cheaters. Please return my very important documents to their proper place when you're done snooping Kurosaki-san."  
BASTARD!  
Ichigo clawed the note to shreds, lifted his leg, did something unspeakable to the magazines and the partners in crime took off at top speed like their lives depended on it! (And their lives probably DID depend on it, because Urahara was going to be pissed when he found out what got pissed on.)  
(Back at the apartment)  
The teens collapsed on Orihime's floor, panting from their non-stop sprint away from Urahara's scary porn.  
"I never knew," Orihime said while shaking, her eyes looking into nothingness. "I never knew… something like that… people actually…"  
Great, she's fucking traumatized!  
There was nothing he could do except pat her with his little paw until the shock wore off...  
((An hour later))  
After some calming tea and some quiet time to recover, the pair was sitting on the couch again. Now, the two were quickly running out of ideas and the frustration was mounting.  
Heck, Orihime was seriously thinking of pulling out the sewing machine and making miniature shinigami robes just see if it made any difference. (Ichigo kept shaking his head furiously when she brought this idea up.)  
Ichigo was finding it hard to hide his disappointment and anger with himself. He didn't want to make Inoue feel bad and he loved her company, but he didn't want to be stuck as a fox for the rest of his life. This was horrible and he felt like they were no closer to figuring out how to get his normal body back.  
What was it that damn Yuroichi said, something about the heart and the soul? Couldn't she have been more fucking clear? Why did she have to be so vague? Is she doing this just for kicks?  
Orihime was keeping a smile on the outside but she was slowly deflating on the inside, with every day that went by she felt more and more useless. She could tell the little furry shinigami was more tense and down hearted. Her best efforts weren't working…  
What can I do for him? I have to make this right!  
"Maybe you should just meditate for now Kurosaki-kun, ack! Please don't worry, I'll think of something perfect!"  
Ichigo gave her an odd look… Her eyes were squinted shut and her smile didn't seem as bright.  
She's forcing herself to smile. He thought grimly. But there was nothing he could do or say. He knew she must be just as frustrated as he was. Orihime kept babbling to cover her tracks and said she would just be cleaning and thinking and not to mind her one bit…  
Ichigo knitted his little eyebrows together… she's a terrible liar. But there's nothing I can do for her like this. He thought with a sinking feeling in his stomach. We have to figure this out soon, we have to…  
(Later that night)  
It had been a pretty depressing rest of the day. Try as he might, Ichigo just couldn't seem to concentrate. And what made it worse was Orihime bustling around the apartment pretending to be happy when she was obviously pretty upset too.  
The pair finally called it the night and plopped into their respective beds. Orihime gave a very brief good night without even looking at him. That has to be a bad sign. He thought.  
I don't want to keep troubling her like this. It's entirely my fault she got dragged into this in the first place…  
Ichigo lay awake in his little make shift bed at the foot or Orihime's bed. There was nothing that he could think of that they hadn't already tried and the damn shinigami conspiracy wasn't going to let him take a short cut out of this either.  
What did Yoruichi mean? What did this all have to do with the heart? I used to think it was just if I desired it enough, but now I'm starting to think there's something else to it… He was getting closer, he knew it... there was something to this train of thought… he could almost feel it.  
He was deep in thought when he heard the first sniffle coming from the bed above. Hmm?  
At first he thought it was just the sounds of her falling asleep… but then another sniffle came and then the undeniable sound of a suppressed sob.  
Ichigo blanched! Fuck! She's crying!  
The next little sob found him pacing next to her bed. Shit, what should I do?  
Worried, little Ichigo lept up onto the bed. What he saw broke his heart. Orhime was there with the covered pulled up to her chin. Messy auburn hair fell around her beautiful round face, and her eyes were closed with tears running down her cheeks.  
It was just too much, he couldn't stand to see any one of his friends looking so vulnerable. What can I fuckin' do? He used one little paw brush away some of the hair. But he didn't expect what she did next!  
With her eyes still closed, Orihime reached out and pulled foxy Ichigos into the covers with her! It was almost as if she was reaching out for the comfort of his warm, soothing presence. Before he knew it Ichigo was being held in a tender embrace close to her bosom, in Orihime's bed.  
This was beyond his imagination! His heart was racing, his breathing quickened and he could feel himself turning red under his fur but her grip wasn't easing up. It was dark and warm here, her wet face just inches away. There was a deep swooping feeling falling through the pit of his stomach as he looked up into her face. He was pressed into her soft porcelain skin and her smell was sweeter than he could have imagined. Ichigo was nervous and embarrassed. He shouldn't be here, in her most private place wrapped in such a warm embrace when she wasn't even fully awake!  
Her teary eyes were still closed when she began to speak…  
"I'm sorry Ichigo." She said in a sleepy, sad whisper.  
If he could, have he would have gasped. His name sounded incredible coming from her supple, sweet lips. "I'm sorry I can't help you."  
It's not your fault! You're doing everything you can! He screamed in his mind.  
"I miss you, I need you to be you again, please, I'm so sorry."  
Why is she apologizing? It's my fault not hers! What can I do?  
"I'm sorry to put you through so much trouble. I… I lo… I love…"  
Wide eyed, Ichigo was hanging on her every syllable.  
He needed to comfort her, he needed to speak to her, he needed to tell her that it was going to be alright, that she didn't need to cry, that he would always be there to make it right, that he had promised to protect her with every fiber of his soul and that nothing could make him go back on the promise. He needed to be with her!  
(Oh. you know how this is going to end)  
And, it was that overwhelming NEED that finally pushed him over the edge of what he had been touching upon so closely before.  
Once again he felt himself start to grow!  
His fur began to recede revealing long lean limbs. His long legs and arms filled out the rest of the space under the sheets and enveloped the thin, busty healer in a full embrace.  
Orihime, in her sleepy sadness was suddenly surrounded by warmth. She snugged into this strong presence, wrapping her delicate hands around his smooth hard body. Huh?  
Wait a minute… She thought as she became a bit more conscious. What is this?  
With her eyes still closed she began tracing her fingers all over his body, up and down his back, around his sides, and from his rock hard abs up to his broad chest.  
While Orihime was trying to figure things out, Ichigo was trying not to die from shock and pleasure.  
OH MY GOD.  
Every touch was electricity on his skin and his body was all goosebumps. Orihime was in his arms, her head fit snuggly into the crook of his neck. When she put her arms around him he had taken in a sharp breath and he was pretty sure he hadn't breathed since.  
What was happening… she was… this is… the most amazing thing he had ever felt! No one had ever touched him this way, EVER. It was certainly a welcome departure from being beaten and cut and hurt all the time. It was so gentle, so soft. Before long he closed his eyes and let his brain turn off, as her fingers continued their exploration. He let a small happy sigh escape his lips.  
Normally he might have been embarrassed beyond belief that he was currently naked in bed with his friend Inoue who was feeling him up, but after everything they had been through, and after trying so hard and finally transforming on his own he was relishing the feel of being back in his body, close to the woman he…  
Ichigo's eyes flew open. The woman I… she brought me back… she always brings me back…  
As his brain kicked back in gear, a large strong hand enveloped Orihime's two small ones, stopping them from their wandering, and held them over his heart.  
Orihime didn't want to open her eyes.  
With every new touch she was starting to realize that this wasn't a dream at all. Her body and her face were getting hotter, every moment seemed an eternity, and every heavy breath filled with the overwhelming scent of the man she loved. But even though she was starting to realize… she could bring herself to stop her hands! It was pure heaven, the feel of his strong back, tight abs and slightly hairy chest were all too much. This fiery anxious feeling was filling her up all over… and the most incredible part… he wasn't stopping her!  
With her eyes closed she felt him give a contented sigh and it sent shivers down her spine. Orihime was overheating. What is this? Kurosaki-kun is back, but how? And how did it get to this? Oh, where do we go from here? What is this feeling? Will he believe I was sleeping? OMG I'm feeling up Ichigo! OMG it feels so good! How do I stop myself?  
But luckily Ichigo had a little more self control at the moment. She felt him take up her hands and hold them against his chest, and she could almost feel the passionate gaze he must be giving her right now.  
"Inoue." He whispered huskily into her silky hair.  
Oh, how wonderful it was to hear his voice again! And how devastatingly sexy it sounded!  
"Inoue, don't cry."  
Her face was flushed, her body giving off waves of heat through her pink polka dot pajamas. Orihime's strategy for handling this: keep pretending to be asleep!  
She snuggled her face more deeply into his chest. It sent physical shivers down Ichigo's entire body making him suddenly very aware that, oh yeah, he really was completely naked! In Orihime's bed! In a tender embrace!  
While still holding onto her upper body, he shifted his hips up and away from a dangerous encounter and tried very hard (hehe) to focus on the girl and not on the physical reaction he was having right now.  
Snuggling into her hair, he went on quietly.  
"I can't stand to see a sad look on your face. You should always smile. Please, don't apologize. Your kindness always bring me back." And, then in the lowest of voices he said, "I'll always come back to you... Orihime."  
It was too much to bear! A fresh sob escaped her lips causing Ichigo to jump badly. With hands on her shoulders he pulled away and looked down at her and immediately began to panic when he saw her crying face… but at the same time she was also… smiling?  
"Kurosaki-kun," she cried. (The effects of the shock collar apparently now gone)  
"Inoue!" said panicked Ichigo. His whole body was turning beat red. "Inoue… you were… were you... awake?"  
"Kurosaki-kun came back to me," she cried. Orihime closed her eyes and with all the courage in her being she went on. "And I will always be here for Kurosaki-kun, because…"  
She paused.  
"Because… Because I love Kurosaki-kun the best!"  
Wide eyed stunned silence met her passionate confession.  
But before long those surprised eyes became gentle, smoldering amber ones.  
She's mine.  
There was no doubting his feelings now, on the contrary her words filled him with a confident, overwhelming happiness that he never knew existed. One thought filled his mind.  
She's mine.  
Orihime tentatively opened her eyes, and the look she saw made her gulp. She had never seen that look before. It was almost like he wanted to devour her! So piercing, so fierce, so devastatingly sexy. Her body temperature was rising again, a nervous fiery pull enveloping her entire being.  
She trembled as she eked out a few more words. "How… I thought Kurosaki-kun was a kitty…"  
His face was coming closer, his grip on her hands tightened, both teens' heartbeats were speeding up as their temperatures rose.  
And, as his face hovered just centimeters away from her trembling hot lips, Ichigo let go a small smirk and answered deeply.  
"I was a fox."  
And then her lips were his.  
Epilogue:  
It didn't matter that 10 minutes later Ichigo's crazy father came bursting into the room with a picture AND video camera. Isshin had conveniently been tipped off as to the whereabouts of his "dear kidnapped son" at precisely the moment he had transformed back. (Ichigo was sure this was Urahara's revenge). Isshin did manage to get a few spectacular shots of his naked son pummeling him into the ground. Not to mention a few shots of an extremely embarrassed Orihime covering her eyes with her hands, but obviously peaking between the cracks in her fingers.  
None of it mattered, because they had their perfect moment. The many adventures they had yet to face, they would face them together.  
((P.S. I wonder what happened in those 10 minutes :x Muahahaha ))


End file.
